As It Seems
by HPincognito247
Summary: He promised her they'd do this together. He promised her she'd never have to be alone. When he pushed that ring onto her left hand and held their son for the first time, he swore he was in it for life. But now he was dead. Or was he?
1. Prologue

**A/N: **This is a test posting. To be honest, I'm not sure how this story will be received, and I don't know that those who normally read my stories will like this. It's not fluff, it's angsty and at times heartbreaking (or at least that's what I'm going for). Not that there isn't fluff, it is a TG story, so fluff is unavoidable, but be warned. Sunburn is still my number one priority, so be warned that this might not get updated until the next chapter of that is up. I hope you like it. This is something completely different for me, and I'm intrigued to see if its even worth reading. Let me know!

BTW, I know the summary kind of gives away the end of the chapter, but I hope you will read anyways. Everything is not _**As It Seems**_, ha ha, you see what I did there, as it...*cough*, right...on with the story.

Special thanks to Abby for beta-ing this story, you rock!

* * *

**Prologue**

The water felt good, the water always felt good. The warm steam surrounded his body as the almost scalding hot water pelted the tanned skin of his sculpted torso, working out the kinks only a day of work could bring. More then just the tension from sitting at his desk, more then just the tension from chasing after criminals, and more then just the tension of the workout he had subjected his body to. It was the mental anguish he endured from the both good and bad things his job caused: the lives ruined, families torn apart, whether or not they were good or bad guys, someone always paid for the mistakes that didn't deserve it, and it haunted Troy Bolton more then he would ever admit.

Still, it was about honor, it was about duty to your country, stopping one person to save a thousand, and protecting the innocent. That's what it was about. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made, and if that meant that Troy became the brooding and suffering type, at least his wife thought it was sexy.

Twenty five year old Troy Bolton was an FBI agent for the federal government and had been since he graduated from Berkeley three years earlier. He wasn't really sure when his passions changed from basketball and theater to criminology in college. It all started when he excelled in his criminology and psychology courses and one of his professors put him up for an internship in Washington DC. He took it, wearily and hesitantly, but he took it, thinking, if nothing else, it might help him discover that this _wasn't _what he wanted to do, and he could move on. But he didn't move on. He loved it, he was good at it, and upon graduation from college, he was recruited into the FBI to work at the office in LA.

The door to the bathroom opened and Troy smiled instinctively, her scent filling his nostrils, knowing exactly who it was without pausing in rinsing the shampoo out of his hair. He heard soft footsteps and the slight running of water as she began getting ready for bed, a light hum coming from her lips in an angelic voice as she was lost in her own little world, the only way Gabriella ever could.

Gabriella Montez started off the exact way everyone expected her too, and in some ways she finished the exact way everyone expected her to too. However, Troy would never call anything about Gabriella predictable, and that was one of the things he loved about her. She had attended Stanford and graduated in three years with her pre-law degree before accepting a full ride to Harvard Law School in Boston for the remaining two years. Troy and Gabriella, still together at the time, suffered through the distance, Troy stayed in California to finish his degree and then later because his job; and while it was hard, they dealt with it. It made them stronger, and upon Gabriella's graduation from law school, Troy proposed. And two years earlier, the two had gotten married and she had officially become Gabriella Bolton.

"I'm not tired."

Troy smiled at her whining voice, almost envisioning her pouting as he heard her plop down onto the bench they had in their four bedroom home they had purchased in LA.

"Well," Troy said drawing out the word as he peered at her through the foggy glass, "_maybe_ if you hadn't taken a nap then you would be."

"It's not my fault," Gabriella defended quickly, "he just fell asleep and so did I."

"Hmm," Troy murmured, "did you get him to sleep?"

"I did," Gabriella responded, "he was out immediately, his daddy played with him too much."

Troy smiled as his thoughts immediately switched from that of his beautiful wife to the son she had given him. Alexander Jack Bolton was already three months old, yet it felt like only yesterday that Troy had found out Gabriella was pregnant. It was an accident, not that they didn't want kids, they just didn't expect them so soon. Troy remembered clearly when he had come home to Gabriella bawling her eyes out one day, terrified that he was going to leave her because she got pregnant. Troy had been exactly the opposite. He had grinned so widely that his face almost split in half and proceeded to pick Gabriella up and spin her around in excitement, followed soon after by holding her hair back as she threw up.

"Well," Troy said dragging out the word, "it's not my fault I have to work, not _all_ of us can stay at home."

"I know," Gabriella's voice was somber, "I wish you could, he's already growing so fast. I don't know _what_ I'm going to do when I go back to work."

"The first day's the hardest," Troy told her, "it gets easier after that, plus he gets really excited when he sees you again."

"Troy, that's gas."

Troy groaned from within the shower, "Damnit, no, I'm telling you, he smiled at me!"

Troy looked over as the door slid open to find Gabriella stepping into the shower with him, obviously intent on joining by her lack of clothing, "He didn't smile."

Troy narrowed his eyes and sent her a look, "He did, just because you didn't see it, isn't my fault, he just loves me more."

Gabriella rolled her perfectly chocolate eyes, "Sure, whatever you say, honey." Gabriella went to reach around him but he deflected her and wrapped his hand around her wrist, preventing her from reaching past him. Gabriella sent him a look, "What are you doing?"

Troy quirked an eyebrow, "What are _you_ doing?"

Gabriella raised her other hand and attempted to go over his shoulder, "I'm _attempting_ to get my razor."

Troy easily grabbed her other wrist and moved them up and over his shoulders, his hands falling down around her waist as he pulled her closer, "Are you?"

Gabriella nodded, "I am."

Troy was studying her face and suddenly she felt like one of the criminals he interrogated, "So…funny story," he started off slowly, "_my_ razor is being conspicuously used by someone else."

Gabriella raised her eyebrows, doing best to keep her face surprised, "Really?"

"Yes, really." Troy said, and Gabriella could see the amusement in his eyes, "And given that three people live in this house, one of them unable to take showers, and the other one being me, that only leaves one other person it could be." He narrowed his eyes, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Gabriella shook her head, her best innocent face on, "I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about."

"Really?" Troy asked sarcastically as he turned slightly and grabbed his razor off of the shower caddy, "Because it smells rather like your shaving cream?"

Gabriella paused for a moment before letting a sweet smile stretch across her lips as she pulled down her left hand and showed him the medium sized diamond sitting on top of a diamond encrusted white gold band with a matching wedding band fused into it, "What ever happened to what's mine is yours?"

Troy sent her a smile, "I draw the line at razors."

Gabriella pouted as she tightened her arms around his neck, "But baby, yours is so much sharper then mine is."

Troy started shaking his head as soon as she called him baby, "Uh-uh, no way, over my dead body are you using my razor to shave your legs, none of this 'mine is yours' crap."

Gabriella rolled her eyes upward as a small smile played on her lips, "Fine," Gabriella sighed heavily, "are you sure I can't change your mind?" Troy shook his head, but Gabriella saw the gleam in his eye that showed he must have known where she was going with this. "Nothing?" she purposely took a step forward and pushed her naked chest up against his, her lower stomach rubbing up against his pelvis that had been hard ever since she had stepped into the shower, an almost natural thing for Troy to get around Gabriella. Especially naked Gabriella. Especially naked Gabriella who had most recently become comfortable with her post-pregnancy body that came equipped with slightly bigger hips and breasts, giving her even more dangerous curves in all the right places. "You sure?"

Troy was smirking now, "I'm sure."

Gabriella brought her hands around to his front, running down his perfect torso, her fingertips leaving a trail as they passed over his well defined pecs, rock-hard abs and moved around to his muscular back, her hands pausing at his shoulder blades, where she knew two of his three tattoos were.

It had been something that Gabriella had found unexpectedly attractive about Troy. She never was a tattoo or piercing kind of girl, she thought they were dangerous and stupid, and once upon a time swore she'd never date a guy with a tattoo. Then Troy got one the summer following their senior year. It was just a simple basketball, something he and Chad had gotten together as a sign of friendship, and Gabriella didn't know what it was, but something about it drove her crazy. His second one hadn't come long after that one, during their freshman year of college, a barb wire wrapped around the bicep of his left arm, which he _still_ wouldn't tell her how he got, but she deduced he had been drunk and near a tattoo parlor. The third had come almost four years later, during her first year of law school; he had surprised her with a small script 'Gabi' on his left shoulder blade.

"What if I…" Gabriella moved her hands to the fronts of his shoulders and walked forward, pushing him back, out of the stream of water, until his back hit the tiled wall of the shower, "…do that?"

Troy winced as his lower back hit the handle of the shower, but he didn't let the smile fall off of his face, if this was how she wanted to play, so be it, "Then I'd do this." Troy punctuated his statement by grabbing her upper thighs and hoisting her up, her legs wrapping around his waist while he walked her across to the other wall of the shower.

It was a mere seconds after her back hit the shower that she felt Troy's mouth on hers, both sets of lips already moist from the steam in the air, and the heat between the kisses was only intensified by the heat in the shower and the time they had spent apart. Gabriella and Troy were trying, but Troy was currently in the middle of a big case at work that oftentimes had him called in in the middle of the night while Gabriella was busy being a fulltime mom to Alex and preparing to go back to her job at the District Attorney's Office. And while intimacy had occurred since Alex's birth, compared to Gabriella's pregnancy in which she had been incredibly horny, it was nothing.

His mouth was heavy and wet and Gabriella couldn't help but smile into his kisses, their tongues dueling for control, "How about now?"

"Nope." Troy replied immediately, sucking on her collarbone causing Gabriella's eyes to shut in pleasure, "But I bet I could make you give in before I do."

Gabriella reopened her eyes, which were now almost black in passion, and looked down at her husband, "I'll take that bet."

Troy smiled into her skin, running his hands along her thighs before dipping to the inside, his fingertips teasing her core as the rested on the skin just outside of it, his head venturing lower to focus on the swells of her breasts. "I'll warn you though," Troy mumbled out, "I don't plan on playing fair."

Troy wasn't really sure how he missed where her hands were, but he miscalculated her devious efforts and gasped against her skin when he felt her tiny hand enclose around his ever hardening member. Troy's eyes had fallen shut at the surge of pleasure that had run through his body, but he struggled against his heavy lids and managed to open them enough to see Gabriella grinning wickedly, "Neither do I." she said in a low voice, and Troy saw her eyebrow quirk when she felt him harden even further at the sultriness in her voice. "My, my, Mr. Bolton, I'd say that's a problem."

He wasn't going down (no pun intended) without a fight, "We'll see whose _problem_ it will be, Mrs. Bolton." Gabriella barely had time to register anything and released a squeal as she was pulled from the shower wall, and it's lucky they were inside their private bathroom within their bedroom otherwise the giggles and moans that followed would have woken their slumbering three month old.

* * *

Gabriella Bolton woke up smiling.

She didn't do that as often as she'd like.

Not because of personal issues, it wasn't like Troy and she didn't get along, in fact, while most couples have it hardest the first couple of years of marriage, they were almost annoyingly happy during it. At first Gabriella had just been settling into her job, and she was worried how hard it would be to be both a wife and lawyer, but she did it with ease, and the two of them were very much into their honeymoon phase for the first year.

Then, of course, Alex came, but even during her pregnancy, neither were unhappy, Gabriella was crazily hormonal, annoyingly demanding, and wonderfully horny, and Troy made more then his fair share of ice cream runs at three in the morning, but they were happy. Troy was so excited for the baby to come and they had been in an almost daze for the past three months.

It had less to do with the situation and more to do with Troy's job, or more the part of Troy's job that frequently consisted of Troy getting called into work in the middle of the night. She'd think that there would be other parts of his job that bothered her. Such as the frequent late night raids, interrogations with hardened criminals, and getting shot at. And they used to, especially his first year when she was still away at Harvard, and it continued to bother her a good six months into their marriage.

Then _she_ got shot at.

_Flashback:_

_Gabriella was sitting in the ambulance in front of the courtroom, her matching jacket to her gray pantsuit having been shed and balled up on the floor, the arm torn and covered with her blood,_ _to reveal the pink camisole she had on underneath with her gray pants. Her feet that were clad in a pair of pink high heels were dangling out of the ambulance as she glanced down at her bandaged shoulder. It wasn't bad, it looked worse then it was, but it had hurt like nothing else and right now all Gabriella wanted to do was go home and sleep._

_But that wasn't possible. There were press conferences being made, claims by both sides, and investigations into how this had happened. Gabriella didn't blame anyone, the guy had murdered his wife, clearly he had issues with women. And while she wasn't planning on dropping the charges, not that her office would let her, she wasn't planning on making him pay tonight._

"_Get out of my fucking way!" Her head snapped over at the voice, recognizing it anywhere, and she saw an angry and freaked out Troy Bolton being held back by police, "That's my wife, let me through!"_

"_Troy!" her plea wasn't very loud, but it seemed to be loud enough to reach Troy and the officer's ears, the officer turned to face her and Troy seized the opportunity to run past him, sprinting over to the ambulance she was sitting in. _

_He didn't hesitate in gathering her into his arms, being mindful of her arm, hugging her tightly. "Oh my god, baby," Troy said soothingly, "I was so fucking scared." He let her go and pulled back observing her, "What happened?" he looked down at her shoulder, his eyes doubling in size, "You were shot?"_

_Gabriella shook her head, "The bullet just grazed me."_

_Troy looked at her incredulously, "The…bullet…what?"_

_As if to answer his question a yell was let out and Gabriella and Troy looked over to see two cops leading away a handcuffed criminal who was struggling against the cops, lunging at Gabriella when he saw her. The cops held on tighter to him and Troy instinctively stepped in front of Gabriella, "You bitch!" he yelled, "This is all your fault!"  
_

_Troy felt a surge of anger and lunged at the guy, "You bastard," the second cop intercepted Troy and held him back as the other cop held firmly to the criminal, "I'll fucking kill you!"_

"_Troy!" Gabriella begged as the cop pushed Troy back while the other one pulled away the criminal to the cop car._

"_I want him charged with attempted murder," Troy told the cop, "I want him to never ever see anything outside of the walls of prison."_

"_Troy," Gabriella grabbed onto his arm and pulled him back, sending the cop an appreciative look, "Troy, I'm pressing charges, calm down."_

_Troy turned to her, "Calm down? How can you tell me to calm down, that man shot you!"_

"_Yes, but you killing him and going to jail for the rest of your life isn't going to make anything better." She told him logically._

_Troy sent her a look, not angry with her, but angry at not being able to do anything to the person that had hurt her, "Damnit Gabriella, my job's the dangerous one," Troy told her gesturing to himself, "I get shot at, I fight the criminals, you just sit behind a desk and put them in jail for the rest of their lives."_

"_It was a freak accident," Gabriella told him, "it almost never happens." Gabriella rested her hands on either side of his torso, pulling him closer to her, "I'm fine, it was three stitches, no big deal."_

"_No big deal?" Troy asked as his arms curled around her back, "Gabriella, if that bullet had been two inches over…"_

"_But it wasn't," Gabriella told him, "and don't you think you're being a bit hypocritical here? You get shot at every day."_

"_It's different." Troy mumbled, seeing the truth in her statement, "I'd rather I die than you."_

_Gabriella tilted her head, "I'd rather neither of us did."_

_Troy sighed, staring at her, "Couldn't you have just been a divorce lawyer? They don't get shot at either?"_

_Gabriella raised her eyebrows, "Couldn't you have just played professional basketball? They don't get shot at either."_

_Troy sent her a look, but the corners of his mouth were tugging into a smile, "You've gotta be more careful, though," he told her, "I wouldn't know what to do if something happened to you."_

_Gabriella nodded, as Troy gathered her into a hug, her head resting against his chest while his hand ran up and down her back, "Me neither."_

_End Flashback_

After that she wasn't so neurotic about it. Mainly because she saw how he acted around her job and realized what it felt like, and once the 'getting shot at' part was eliminated, she realized how much the 'just not having him here' part sucked. So getting an entire night of him, whether it was sex or simply falling asleep with his arms around her was amazing, and even though he wasn't in bed when she woke up, she could still sense he was in the house, and that was enough to make her smile.

Gabriella pushed up out of bed and stretched her arms above her head. Her thighs were slightly sore from the previous night, even though the two had been 'back in the sack' per se, for almost two months now, it wasn't as often as it had been, which meant when they had fun nights like the previous one, she was a little more sore afterwards. Bending down she scooped the discarded clothing off of the floor and tossed it into the hamper save for one of Troy's shirts that she slipped on after she retrieved a clear pair of underwear and Troy's boxers from the drawers. Gabriella was absentmindedly running her hand through her hair as she walked out of their bedroom and instinctively went towards Alex's room, stopping when she heard a voice coming from down the stairs. Her smile reappeared on her face when she recognized the voice as her husband's and immediately switched course, heading down the stairs, finding the two people she loved more then anything in the living room.

Troy was sprawled on the carpet of their living room, flat on his back, shirtless in just his pajama pants with the top of his boxers peeking out of the top. Alex was lying on his stomach across Troy's chest, still in the footsie pajamas she had dressed him in the previous night, reaching for the remote as Troy dangled it in front of his face. Alex had just recently perfected holding his head up and the doctor had suggested he lie on his stomach to strengthen his neck muscles and Troy was obviously taking advantage of that suggestion.

Troy let Alex grab the remote and Gabriella saw him pull it towards his mouth, just like he did with everything, as Troy pointed over at the TV, and it was then that Gabriella heard the low sound in the background, "Look…basketball." Gabriella smiled at his antics as Alex's curious blue eyes turned to where his father was pointing, his similar shaggy brown hair sticking every which way from his night of sleep, "That's gonna be you _favorite_ sport." Alex seemed more concerned with slobbering all over the remote he had successfully stuck into his mouth and turned his head away. "Only if you want it to be, of course." Troy added quickly, "But you will." He said with a smile.

Gabriella watched him pull the remote away and set it on the carpet, Alex confused for a moment before Troy seized his sides and lifted him up and over his head, mock gasping and drawing Alex's attention as he smiled up at him, "Hi, buddy." Troy brought him down and made an exaggerated noise as he kissed his cheek, Alex giggling at his father's antics. Troy lifted him back up and smiled brightly, "See, you mom's wrong, you are smiling."

"I didn't say he doesn't smile," Gabriella said from her position leaning against the doorframe of the living room, drawing Troy's attention over to her, "I just said that particular time you are talking about was gas."

Troy smiled over at her before looking up at Alex, "Food's here." Gabriella sent him a playful glare as Troy sat up, turning Alex around and resting his feet on the carpet, pushing up as Troy held firmly to his sides, "We've been waiting _all_ morning for sleepy mommy to wake up."

Gabriella walked into the room and sank to her knees, lowering her head to Alex's level, "Are you hungry?"

Troy was lightly bouncing him, "He hasn't started crying yet but I fed him a bottle almost three hours ago."

Gabriella nodded as she took Alex, "Well, why don't we feed him now, after all, he is his father's son."

Gabriella sat down and crossed her legs, cradling Alex in her arms as she pulled up Troy's t-shirt, "So you tell me." Troy said teasingly, "I have my doubts."

Gabriella ran her finger along Alex's cheek, the little boy turning his head and beginning to feed, "You're right, he's Brad Pitt's, Brad just can't leave Angelina yet for me."

Troy smiled, "Of course." He watched as she grimaced slightly and he pursed his lips, "Does it still hurt?"

Gabriella shook her head, but her face looked pained, "It's more just odd then painful, like, at first it was painful, but the doctor said that was normal for the first few weeks, now it's just kind of tugging." Gabriella shrugged slightly, "Breastfeeding's supposed to help his immune system, after pushing him out of my vagina, I can take a little tugging."

Troy smiled, "Are you kidding me, miss 'I'm doing everything naturally' and then five minutes of contractions and you're screaming for medication."

Gabriella sent him a look, "Do you know what it's like to push a child out from between your legs?" she asked sarcastically as Troy rolled his eyes, "Then I _don't _want to hear it." She looked back down at Alex, "Plus, I didn't take any drugs because they could've hurt him."

"You didn't take drugs because Alex came too quickly." Troy pointed out and Gabriella sent him a glare, "I _mean_ because you didn't want to hurt him."

Gabriella nodded, "Exactly." She looked down and Troy pushed over, sitting next to her, leaning back against his arms and allowing Gabriella to lean against him, his eyes going over to the game on television, "You don't work today, right?"

Troy shook his head, "Saturday, nope."

Gabriella nodded, "After I finish feeding him, I'll pump a few bottle of milk and we should go to the park, it's really nice out."

Troy turned his head towards her, "I'm not _supposed_ to work today, that doesn't mean I won't get called in, and I probably will."

Gabriella shrugged, "That's why you have a cell phone."

Troy quirked an eyebrow, "A cell phone you always manage to hide whenever we go out."

Gabriella smiled innocently, "I don't know _what_ you're talking about." She blinked twice, "But _if_ I did, it's not my fault that I want my husband to hang out with his son."

Troy looked down for a moment, "Baby, I _want_ to be here…"

"I know." Gabriella said quickly, "I was just teasing, and I promise to tell you if you have any incoming phone calls if you promise not to check your phone every five minutes."

Troy smiled, "I promise." Gabriella turned her head back down and watched as Alex fed, Troy smiling at the small smile that came on her face, "So I talked to my dad yesterday," Troy started, drawing Gabriella's attention back to him, "apparently our mothers are already starting the fight for who gets what."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "I _told_ my mom we'd probably stay at your house when we came in for Thanksgiving and Christmas because your bedroom's big enough for the crib but we'd have dinner and celebrate at my house because we have a bigger family room."

Troy shrugged, "I don't care, I get to be Santa either way, so I'm cool with it."

Gabriella groaned at the childish look on his face, "You look forward to deceiving our son?"

Troy sent her a look, "I look forward to making him believe in magic." He elaborated, "Nowadays kids don't have that fairytale element in their lives, and we got that fairytale element…we got that fairytale ending," Gabriella felt a smile creep onto her face, "he should get a shot at it."

Gabriella sent him a look before turning her eyes away and sighing, "You better not teach him to be cheesy like you are," the corners of her mouth were tugging into a smile, "otherwise girls won't stand a chance."

Troy smiled as he brought his arm up and wrapped it around her shoulder, "The way I remember it, you didn't much mind my cheesiness."

"Of course I didn't," Gabriella said turning her head down to look at Alex as he pulled away, "you were the boy I met on a skiing vacation in Colorado who happened to live in the same city I was moving too _and_ went to the same high school I did, you don't get any cheesier then that."

Gabriella lifted Alex into a sitting position and began patting his back softly before looking up at Troy, "That's not cheese," Troy told her as she let her head drop onto his shoulder and he rested his on top of hers, "that's fate."

* * *

"He cannot move."

"It's November!"

"It's California."

"It's still chilly," Gabriella pointed out, "and babies don't hold heat well."

Troy rolled his eyes as he looked over at Alex who was lying on his stomach, propped up on a U-shaped pillow, on top of the blanket they had spread out over the grass for him to play on, bundled up in a wither coat and hat in forty degree weather. Alex didn't seem to mind one way or another, he was just glad to be out of the car seat Gabriella had had him strapped in earlier, free to play with his toys that had been spread over the blanket. Both Gabriella and Troy were dressed down, Troy in jeans and a white v-neck short sleeved shirt with a high collared ribbed navy blue sweater that was zipped up halfway, while Gabriella wore jeans and a white v-neck sweater that stretched over the waistband of her jeans and ended at the tops of her thighs, Troy lying on his stomach and occasionally interacting with Alex while Gabriella alternated between watching Alex and reading the book she had brought, still cross legged next to Troy.

"Whatever," Troy said, "when he's crying in a few minutes about how hot he is, you can calm him down because he's crabby when he doesn't get his way." Troy rolled his eyes, "Just like his mother."

Gabriella scoffed at Troy, "Stubborn, just like his father."

Troy mock groaned, "God, I hate you, why did I marry you again?"

"Mmm," Gabriella shrugged, "must have been the sex."

"Speaking of," Troy said breaking out of their game and turning his head towards her, "what _was_ that last night?"

Gabriella's eyes widened as she looked at Troy, fear entering her thoughts, "Why…was it bad?"

"No, no, no," Troy said quickly, followed by a quick laugh, "_no_, trust me, it was _really_ good, I just don't remember you being that…flexible."

Gabriella's eyes widened even further as she turned her head away from him, a blush creeping onto her cheeks, "Yeah…you remember how I told you I was taking those Pilate classes with Taylor three times a week, well, she showed me some stuff…"

"Stop right there," Troy interrupted her, "anything you're about to say will allude to Taylor and Chad's sex life and I am _not_ going there." He said definitely, "I just wanted to point out that I noticed because you don't think I notice anything, and I liked it," he smirked, "a lot."

Gabriella laughed as she leaned into him, "I thought you might, and I liked it too," she smiled down at him, "especially the part where I got to shave my legs with your razor."

Troy sent her a look and reached over, covering both of Alex's ears with his hands, "Not around the child, Gabriella." She laughed as she looked over at Alex who was looking at both of them with his wide blue eyes, "I'll teach him to be stronger around his wife then I am with you." Troy shook his head, "It's something in our DNA, though, because my dad is putty in my mom's hands too."

Gabriella brought her hand up and ruffled Troy's hair, "I love my putty Troy."

Troy smiled and turned his head back towards Alex before looking up, absentmindedly watching the other people around the park, "So my mom told me something else when I talked to her," Troy said conversationally, his voice even as he turned his head towards her and rested it on his fist, "she said your mom is talking to your dad again." Gabriella's eyes widened slightly and he saw her turn them down, suddenly finding the blanket they were sitting on very interesting, "I didn't know you were back in contact with your dad."

"I'm not." She said quickly, her eyes darting back up to Troy, "My _mom_ is talking to my dad again, I'm not. The only person I think of as a father is your dad, no one else."

"Okay," Troy said quickly, "I didn't know, I just assumed because your mom was that you were."

"I'm not," she repeated, "he doesn't get to walk out on me and my mom and come back whenever its convenient for him, it doesn't work that way."

Troy nodded, "Okay, I'm not disagreeing with you, I'm just surprised your mom is talking to him."

"Mom loves him." Gabriella said, and Troy most definitely heard the undertone of bitterness in her voice.

"And you don't?"

Gabriella looked down again and shook her head, "Troy, I'm not stupid, I know you know about my father, I know you did as much research as you could when you had the resources too, and I know you know what happened." Gabriella looked over at him and Troy could see the anger on her face but the sadness was swimming in her eyes, "Little eleven year old Gabriella who was in the hospital with a concussion and dislocated shoulder because her father got a little too physical during one of his drunken rages."

Gabriella dropped her arm from where she had been resting it at the base of his neck and went to scoot away a bit, but Troy reached over and grabbed her hand, twining their fingers and pulling her back, not letting her get away, "I found out for the wedding," Troy told her softly as he stared at her intently, "I wanted you to tell me, but with the craziness surrounding the wedding and you hyperventilating about every detail, I figured I should do this alone."

Gabriella looked over at him, "Troy, I have two lives, life before my dad and life after him. Life before him wasn't so great, life after has been really good, I didn't want to mix them. It's not that I didn't want to tell you, I just didn't want to make a bigger deal out of something that happened a long time ago, he's out of my life, he's not a factor, let's just leave it at that."

Troy stared at her for a moment longer before nodding, "Fine, I just thought you were back in contact with him, and if you had been, I would've preferred you tell me, not keep it a secret."

Gabriella nodded, "I promise, if I ever get back into contact with him, I'll let you know, but I wouldn't hold your breath."

Troy nodded curtly, "Breath not held." He looked over when he felt a squishy ball hit the side of his face and found a squirming Alex lying on his back, fist shoved in his mouth as he looked up at his father, "Did you just throw that at me?" Alex let out a muffled laugh and Troy reached over and let his fingers dance up Alex's sides, the little boy wiggling with delight, "I knew you'd be an athlete." Troy glanced over at his U-shaped pillow they always propped him up on and his brow furrowed, "Wait a second, wasn't he…"

"He rolled over!" Gabriella said loudly and excitedly, moving up from her position and over next to Alex who immediately looked up at the sound of his mother's voice, "Oh my god, Troy," Gabriella seized his arm and started shaking him with every word, her excited eyes on her son, "he rolled over!"

Troy smiled at Gabriella's antics, "Yeah, I know, no need to get violent about it."

Gabriella was already ignoring him as she lifted Alex up off of his back and set him back on his stomach, "Come on baby, do it again, do it for momma." Alex placed his palms on the blanket like he always did and lifted his head, but all he did was blink he large blue eyes at his mother, "Roll over, just once." She coaxed.

Troy laughed, "Way to make him sound like a dog."

"Oh, come on." Gabriella whined, her face almost turning into a pout.

Troy rolled his eyes and picked up the ball Alex had thrown at him, squeezing it once to release a squeaky noise into the air that Alex immediately turned towards, "You want the ball?" Troy set it on the blanket, squeezing it again for good measure, Alex following it with his eyes. He reached out his hand, the ball falling just out of reach. He kept reaching but made no movement to turn, "Hmm, maybe it was easier up on the pillow," Troy looked up at Gabriella, "he's only fourteen weeks, when can they roll from front to back?"

Gabriella shrugged, "I think four months, but he's been rolling from his back to his front for a while." Gabriella pouted, "We missed it…he rolled over and we missed it!"

"He'll do it again," Troy told her, "soon he'll be crawling, then he'll be standing, then he'll be walking, then he'll be talking, and before you know it, he'll be dating."

Gabriella was looking at her husband horrified and a smile stretched across Troy's face, her eyes widened and she reached over, punching him in the arm, "Jerk!"

Troy laughed, "You know it's true."

Gabriella reached down and picked up Alex, bringing him up to rest on her hip and kissing the top of his head, "Your daddy's mean, you would never date and leave mommy alone."

Troy moved up onto his knees and crawled over next to her, "He will," Troy dropped a kiss on Alex's head before moving to Gabriella and pecking her on her lips, "and he'll find the perfect girl, just like I did."

Gabriella felt her pocket vibrate and she immediately started shifting Alex over towards Troy, Troy accepting him and moving him to his hip, "Yeah, that's right, keep sucking up." She pulled her Blackberry out of her pocket and squinted at the screen, seeing 'work' flashing on there, but the number beneath it not being the number to her work, but the number to Troy's work. Her brow furrowed and her eyes went to the bottom corner of the phone. She and Troy had the same phones and Gabriella had stuck a sticker picture of her and Alex on the bottom corner of his. And there sitting on the corner, was her and Alex.

"Who is it?" Troy asked curiously, noticing her confused face.

Gabriella looked up at Troy, they were having a nice family day, she could just say she didn't realize she had his phone until the end of the day, she could keep him here, he wouldn't be mad, he wanted to spend more time with her and Alex. But on the other hand, she had promised him, and she had, many other times, prevented him from going to work when he was needed, maybe it was just paperwork.

Gabriella flipped the phone over and shoved it at him, "Your phone."

Troy's eyes focused on the screen and saw the number calling him. He took the phone and hit the accept button, flashing her an apologetic look as he lifted it to his ear, "Bolton."

Gabriella reached out and took Alex again, pressing a kiss to his temple as Troy mumbled into the phone, "Daddy's gonna have to leave us." She whispered quietly, watching Troy look up and sigh into his phone.

"You're sure?" Troy asked into the phone, "And there's no way you two can just handle this?" his jaw clenched and his other hand balled into a fist, "Hey don't get short with me, we all do our time, it's not my turn to work this weekend, you two _should_ be able to handle this, so back the fuck off and have everything ready by the time me and Danforth get there." Troy didn't wait for a response as he hung up the phone and gripped it tightly in his hand while shifting his gaze over at Gabriella, who had already placed Alex back in his stroller, and was in the process of strapping him in, "I'm sorry."

Gabriella shrugged as she stood up, bending over and gathering up Alex's toys, "You warned me, I knew, it's your job, Troy, I understand."

There was sincerity in her words, but she wouldn't look up at him. Troy grabbed the rest of the toys and tossed them into the bag they brought before standing up, picking up the blanket and beginning to fold it, "When I get home, we'll work on making him roll over," Troy told her, "its just a routine arrest that they want backup for, they think they know where Salinas' number two man is."

Gabriella shook her head, "You don't have to tell me this, Troy, I know you aren't supposed to."

"I know it bothers you," Troy said quickly, "but I swear, when this case is done, I'll be home a lot more. We're _so_ close, and once we have his number two, he'll have no one left to run to."

Gabriella stepped forward and rested one of her hands on his chest, "Troy, I swear I'm not mad at you, you _don't _have to tell me all this stuff." Troy didn't seem convinced, "Plus, the less I know, the better, if they find out you're telling me, they'll just kill me."

Troy sent her a look, "That's not funny, Gabriella, I can stomach the risks your job seems to have, but I can't even think about the ones mine puts on you."

Gabriella leaned in and pecked him quickly on the lips, "Trust me, I can handle myself." She turned away from him and manned the stroller, beginning to push it over to the concrete path, "Come on, we have to drop off daddy." Troy sighed and bent down, scooping up the bag and following Gabriella, the family of three heading towards their car.

"Chad's gonna be there, right?" Gabriella asked as she pulled the car to a stop in front of Troy's office building, looking over at Troy as he opened the glove compartment and pulled out his badge, handcuffs, and gun.

Chad Danforth and Troy Bolton had been friends seemingly forever, and while they hadn't gone to the same college, it wasn't all that surprising that their lives had turned out so similar. She knew that Troy had confided in Chad first about his love of criminology, and she supposed Chad's love of it came from always doing what Troy did, and while Chad really did seem to love it, that seemed more of a coincidence then actual planning on his part.

Troy nodded, "Yeah, but he said he was running late, he and Taylor were at her parent's house."

Gabriella nodded. Chad and Taylor Danforth had been married for almost three years, the two having gotten married out of college before Taylor started medical school at UCLA. "Good, I don't want you going alone."

"I'm never alone." Troy told her quickly as he pushed open the door and got out, shutting the door and opening the one to the backseat, pressing a kiss to Alex's forehead like he always did before work, "Take care of mom while I'm gone." Alex just watched him close the door before going back to the toy he had in his hand.

Gabriella rolled down her window and Troy leaned against it, staring at her for a moment, "Not mad?" he questioned.

She shook her head, "Not mad, go get those bad guys off of the streets."

Troy gave her a slight smile, "Tomorrow I won't get called in," he told her, "and even if I do, I'll turn off my phone."

Gabriella raised her eyebrows, "Promise?"

Troy nodded, "Promise." He leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips, but Gabriella wasn't letting him go with that, at least if he was going to work, she was going make him count the seconds till he got home. She reached up and snaked her fingers through his hair, opening her mouth and probing his open with her tongue, her kisses hot and demanding. He smiled but kissed back, only briefly, though, before pulling back, resting his forehead against hers and rubbing her nose with his, "I love you."

Gabriella smiled, "I love you too," she pulled back, "now go so you can get home."

Troy stood up straight and smiled crookedly at her, "So we can finish that kiss."

Gabriella smirked at him, "If you're lucky."

"Of course I'm lucky," Troy told her as he walked backwards, "I have you for a wife." She sent him a look as she rolled up her window and put the car in drive, accelerating out of the parking lot.

* * *

It wasn't that Troy minded getting called into his job on the weekends. Sure, he had done his time and he no longer was supposed to work weekends, but being a FBI agent, he can be called in anytime they deem it necessary. Again, that wasn't the problem, Troy had made a lot of good busts on the weekends, just not recently, and most certainly not when the tips had been found by Kevin McDaniels and Justin Campbell. It wasn't that they were idiots, they were just cocky, and while there wasn't necessarily anything _wrong_ with cocky, there was if you were wrong all the time, and they were.

Troy was sitting in the backseat, watching as the two sat in the front, one directing, the other driving. Chad was running late, and was coming with a couple of other agents a few minutes behind them and Troy wished they would've waited, not exactly trusting Kevin and Justin. Troy didn't like to speak ill of his coworkers, they were integral parts of the bureau, but they didn't listen to reason, and sometimes it's not that big of a deal, other times it gets you killed.

"Who'd you get the tip from?" Troy asked, interrupting the silence.

Justin, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned slightly, "One of our inside sources."

Troy looked sideways, duh, "Yeah, which one?" he questioned, "Because I had it narrowed down to where I think Salinas was hiding, but I'm pretty sure this isn't it, if we go back to the office, give me an hour, I could probably figure it out." That wasn't entirely true, Chad had figured it out, but they didn't need to know that.

Justin shook his head, "No, this tipper told us that we only had a small window, and hour and they'll be gone."

Troy nodded, "Alright, if you say so, but let's make this quick."

"We got it Bolton," Kevin said from the driver's seat, "your wife is hot and you want to get back to fuck her, we get it, but some of us have jobs to do."

Troy narrowed his eyes at the back of Kevin's head, they never got along, "Obviously not without someone holding your hand."

The car pulled to a stop and Kevin went to turn around but Justin stopped him, "Alright, we're here." He announced, "Bolton's right, let's just get this over with."

Kevin pursed his lips, "Yes, let's."

Troy rolled his eyes as Kevin and Justin got out of the car, Troy following suit, his bulletproof vest in place and his gun already at the ready as he looked up at the abandoned warehouse. It was always abandoned warehouses, would criminals ever get inventive?

"Where's Danforth?" Troy asked, his eyes examining the building. The windows were dark and dusty, there were fresh tracks in the dirt, it'd make sense that this could be where he was hiding out.

"They said they were about five minutes behind us." Justin told him.

Troy nodded, removing the safety from his gun, "Alright, let's head in." Troy crouched down and began heading towards the building, his eyes scanning the premises, Justin was behind him and Kevin darted across to the other side of the door as Troy peered inside, not seeing any movement. He looked between Kevin and Justin and gave them both nods before he darted in, heading down a hallway with various rooms branching off of it.

Troy turned to his immediate left, aiming the gun into the room and gazing around the well lit room. Empty. He backed out and headed down to the next one. Still empty. Troy made his way to the one at the end of the hallway and gazed in. Nothing. He lowered his gun, another fake tip, "Where the hell is his number two?" Troy asked but froze when he felt the unmistakable feeling of a gun pressed into his back.

"Right here."

Chad Danforth kicked shut the door of his car and looked over towards the three other agents he came with, "Alright…" he was cut off as two gunshots rang out and immediately everyone ducked, turning towards the building in which they had rung from. Chad stood back up straight, "What was…" his statement was interrupted by a loud rumble that erupted from deep within the warehouse, seconds before the entire building exploded.


	2. Living Without You

**A/N:** I was bored, so sue me.

* * *

**Living Without You**

Everything in life is relative. Everything. Not one person is always the same, circumstances are always changing, and everything is dependent on something else.

It was something that had always affected Gabriella Montez growing up. The way one person could truly have an effect on everyone while only touching one person's life. It was why she always tried to be happy, why she smiled at people she didn't know, why she never let her negativity spread beyond her, she would never want to be the one person responsible for making the entire world depressed. So instead she became a ray of sunshine, becoming annoyingly happy when others were sad, spreading her happiness until the person couldn't help but pass it on.

She had kept it through grade school. She had kept it through high school. College and law school had been no different, and the first two years of her marriage she had danced her way from wife to mother as a blissful ray of light to brighten up everyone's rainy day. Everything in life was relative, and if she could be one of the good circumstances, then she'd do it. Gabriella Montez was a good circumstance.

Gabriella Bolton was a bad one.

Gabriella had thought she had understood the way one person could affect everything. She had thought she knew that a mere smile could brighten someone's day and a frown could ruin it. She had truly thought that if she went through life cheering the world up, the world would repay her by letting her be happy. After all, being the daughter of an abusive father, she had earned the happiness she had achieved. She _thought_ she truly deserved it.

She had been wrong.

Apparently, a smile _can't_ brighten someone's day, and a frown _can't_ ruin it. Apparently she hadn't earned the happiness she had worked so hard to achieve, the wonderful life, loving husband, beautiful child; none of that she deserved. Apparently she didn't understand how one person could affect the world, because she had underestimated how much the presence of him affected her, at least until he had been ripped from her life.

She still couldn't acknowledge it. Even a year later the pain was too fresh.

Troy was dead.

His body had been pulled from the fire, the burns making him unrecognizable. He had been in the burn unit for about five minutes at the hospital before he breathed his last breath and Gabriella hadn't made it to the hospital in time to see him, and when she saw the body bag at the hospital she had collapsed, unable to take the pain. The funeral was closed casket, Gabriella never having the strength to look at the body, knowing Troy would want her to remember him the way he was, not the way he died.

Life became relative after that. Varying from day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute. Some days, it wasn't so bad, some days she could go to work, go home, hang out with friends, and live a normal life. Some days she couldn't get out of bed, the very sight of their son who looked more and more like Troy every day making it next to impossible to breathe.

It was those days that were the hardest. The days where she had to pretend. The days where she forced herself out of bed, forced herself to not burst into tears when her son pointed at the picture of his father next to his bed and asked where he was in his twenty two month old language, helped him get dressed, dropped him off at daycare and proceeded to pretend to love her job when she just wanted to curl up in a little ball and die.

But she couldn't, and she couldn't for the very same reason that she sometimes wanted to curl up into a ball. Alex. They were all they had, it didn't matter if he had Uncle Chad and Aunt Taylor, they were dealing with the loss just as hard, both having been close to Troy. It didn't matter if he had Grandmas Sarah and Maria and Grandpa Jack, they were dealing with the loss of a son. Gabriella and Alex only had each other, and it was them that they had to survive for. And it was in those days that Gabriella learned the true meaning of words.

Fine was a relative term.

Twenty seven year old Gabriella Bolton was focused on the papers in front of her, a highlighter dangling out of her right hand as she rested her elbow on the dark wood of the desk inside her quiet office at the DA's Office she was employed at. Her chocolate eyes were scanning the lines of the deposition abnormally fast and her leg, clad in long black pants to contrast the white button up shirt she was wearing, was bouncing to an unheard tune in her head as it was crossed over her other one beneath the desk. The black heels she had worn were sitting about a foot away, and all of her belongings were packed up for the day, prepared to leave with her as soon as she finished with this deposition.

Gabriella brought her left hand up, the diamond adorning the third finger catching the light and reflecting off of the multiple picture frames she had on her desk. One was a wedding photo of her and Troy, another was one taken on their honeymoon, both of them in swimming suits and sunglasses, grinning widely to the camera. A third one was when Gabriella was about six months pregnant, Troy standing behind her with his hands intertwined with hers and resting on her stomach. Another of the three of them in the delivery room following Alex's birth, and one taken of one month Alex lying on Troy's shirtless chest, both fast asleep. She needed her pictures there to remind her why she was enduring the pain, and why she couldn't give up. It was what Troy would want her to do.

Reaching down to highlight a line, she brought her hand up and ran it through her long dark hair, weaving her fingers through the curls and lingering at the ends, twisting them absentmindedly. She was right in the middle of a huge case, and while she wasn't arguing in court, she had been pouring over the notes incessantly, something telling her that she was missing something. What? She wasn't sure, but it was something, and she knew it was there, all it needed to do was be found.

Her phone rang and she didn't even glance up from the file as she reached over and picked the receiver up, "Gabriella Bolton."

"_Gabs!"_

Gabriella still didn't look up, her eyes trained on the paper in front of her, "Hey Tay, how was work?" Taylor had graduated about a month earlier from medical school and was currently working as an intern at Cedars Sinai Medical center, destined for greatness, Gabriella was sure.

She groaned, _"Busy, the summer brings travelers, and travelers are idiots."_

Gabriella smiled, "Yes, well, not everyone can be a genius like you, Tay."

"_Like us." _Taylor corrected, _"But, hey, I was actually calling because I'm at the grocery store and I wanted to know if you wanted to join Chad and me for dinner tonight?"_

Gabriella put the cap on her highlighter as she looked up, shutting the folder, "I can't, Jack and Sarah are coming over for dinner with Alex and I tonight, but you're more then welcome to join."

"_Hmm,"_ Taylor said, _"if you don't mind, I haven't seen Troy's parents in ages."_

Gabriella shrugged, "That's fine, Alex's _all_ excited about seeing his grandparents."

"_Of course."_ Taylor said with a laugh, _"How's potty training going?"_

Gabriella rolled her eyes and groaned, receiving a laugh from Taylor, "Don't even get me started, just when I think he's getting it, he doesn't."

"_He's still young," _Taylor told her, _"if you'd like, Chad could probably take a crack at it."_

Gabriella sighed, "We'll see, he's technically still got two months until he's abnormal, and he is _almost _there, but…we'll just see." Gabriella looked up when she heard a knock on her door, taking in the dark haired man leaning against the frame. He was dressed in black suit pants and a white button up shirt with a red tie hanging in the center. His skin was tanned from the California sun and his eyes were dark brown, almost black, a dangerous smile attached to his lips.

Gabriella didn't really hate a whole lot of people in the world, but she hated two. The two agents that managed to walk away from the same explosion her husband had been killed in, Justin Campbell and Kevin McDaniels. The same Kevin McDaniels who was currently standing in front of her. The DA's office worked closely with the LA based FBI bureau, and often agents came to the office and would stop by her office, mainly Chad, but most recently Kevin insisted on coming and talking to her every time he stopped by.

It wasn't that she _hated_ them. She more hated what they had managed to do and Troy hadn't, and she never understood why they lived and Troy died when in the grand scheme of things, Troy was better trained, Troy had more to live for, and Troy shouldn't have even been there that day. It wasn't their fault, but she had to blame someone, and with the little blame she didn't place on herself for not just ignoring the phone call that sent him to the office in the first place, she placed it on Kevin and Justin.

Justin kept his distance, Kevin didn't. At first, she just thought it was guilt. He was polite, he greeted her, asked about Alex, nothing more then someone who worked with Troy would be. But then he kept hanging out; inquired about more personal details and Gabriella was pretty sure he had a crush on her. She absolutely didn't encourage him, but he refused to give up.

Kevin was smiling, "If it isn't my favorite lawyer?"

Gabriella gave him a small smile, "Kevin, what can I do for you?"

"_Kevin? Kevin McDaniels?"_ the disdain in Taylor's voice was unmistakable, _"What does he want?"_

Kevin's smile didn't waver, "I was hoping to talk with you," his eyes went to the phone, "in private."

Gabriella looked down and refocused on the conversation with Taylor, "Tay, I gotta go, I'll see you at six-ish."

"_Watch him Gabs, I don't trust him."_

"Me neither." Gabriella said without hesitation, "Bye." She lowered her phone and ended the phone call before looking up at Kevin, "What can I help you with?" she gestured to the chair in front of her desk, "I don't have a whole lot of time, I'm basically done with work but I have to pick up my son in a few minutes."

Kevin nodded as he took a seat, "This won't take long, I actually have a few questions regarding your late husband." His tone was soft, but Gabriella knew he didn't mean a word of sympathy, "I know you don't like talking about him, but this has to do with the case surrounding his death."

"Did you find out who planted the bomb?" Gabriella asked immediately, her face hard and void of emotion. She'd had over a year of practice, it was easy to pretend around those that didn't know her well.

"No, that's the thing," Kevin was studying her face intently, "every time we get close, we take two steps back, I'm beginning to think there's a leak inside the bureau."

Gabriella nodded, "It's highly possible, but what does this have to do with me?"

"I think Troy thought so too." Kevin responded, "And I was wondering if he ever mentioned anything to you?"

Gabriella shrugged, "Ask Chad, he'd know better then anyone else."

Kevin nodded, "Yes, but Chad's…different…since Troy's passing."

It was difficult to keep the anger off of her face, but Gabriella somehow managed, "We're all different since his passing." Gabriella stood up abruptly and picked up her briefcase and purse, "Chad would know, and if he isn't telling you, then that should say something."

Kevin stood up, "Look, Gabriella, the bureau's just trying to protect you. Troy was involved in some serious shit that got him killed; I need to know what you know to protect you."

Gabriella shook her head, "I don't want your protection."

Kevin sighed, "Okay, I know you're in a hurry, I really do need to talk to you about this stuff, why don't we meet for dinner later whenever you're not busy?"

"I'm a single mother," Gabriella told him, "I'm always busy."

"Gabriella," Kevin said in a stern tone, "until I know what Troy knew, I can't find his killer, and to think that we could be working along side him right now is terrifying, don't you want justice?"

Yes, she wanted justice more then anyone knew. Alex deserved to know why he lost his father, and a freak accident wasn't enough. Gabriella brought her hand up and scratched the back of her neck, a habit of Troy's, "Tomorrow Alex will be with his grandparents, so that might work."

Kevin nodded, "Okay, I'll meet you at that coffee shop across the street after you get off." Gabriella nodded but kept quiet, "I've gotta get back, but also it would be helpful if you had any of his personal notes at home, he didn't have much at the office."

Gabriella shook her head, "Troy didn't keep any of that kind of stuff at home, he didn't want to draw any higher attention to it with Alex and I there."

Kevin didn't seem to believe her, "A personal computer?"

"He had one," Gabriella told him, "we have our desktop at home, which the police already searched, and we both had personal laptops, if you guys don't know where it is, I don't know where it is."

Kevin looked down, thinking, "Hmm…I'll have to do some digging, alright, I'll let you go, see you tomorrow."

Gabriella pursed her lips as she watched him turn and go, not speaking and not taking her eyes off of him until he disappeared from sight. Taylor was right, there was something slimy about him. Gabriella hadn't even met for coffee with him yet and she already felt like she was sleeping with the enemy. As though somehow this betrayed Troy, and somehow she was cheating on him.

But she wasn't, he was the lead agent on Troy's murder case and it made sense that he would want to talk to her to get as much information from her as possible. It made sense that he would visit her often, possibly feel bad about not solving the case, and it made sense that he would work really hard to find his coworker's killer.

Except…he wasn't.

He didn't visit to offer condolences, in fact, he had never said he was sorry for Troy's loss once, he came to talk about the weather, to ask about Alex and how her mother was doing. He wasn't working hard to solve the case, and he sure as hell didn't feel bad about it. Gabriella hadn't seen an ounce of remorse in his face on any of his visits, and this was the first lead he had had in a year and a half.

Troy, when he was alive, had never mentioned Kevin, not once at home when she asked him how his day was, and that was how she gauged who she did and didn't trust at his office. However, since Kevin wasn't mentioned, Gabriella hadn't known how to act around him. At first she had been polite, after all, he had never been rude or mean to her, but it hadn't taken long for Gabriella to get a bad feeling about him, and Gabriella really wished Chad would've taken control of the case.

But Kevin was right, Chad was different. He didn't have the same happiness he used to exude, he didn't light up a room with his laughter like he used to, and he didn't trust people anymore. He lost his best friend and brother, and in doing so he had kind of lost who he was. Alex helped. Alex helped all of them. He was just like Troy with his mischievous ways, sly grin, and he looked just like him. He was their miracle, and without him they wouldn't have made it as long as they did.

"Gabs?"

Gabriella was shaken out of her thoughts by a voice in the hallway and looked over to see a middle aged blonde, dressed in a pair of black pants and a long sleeve v-neck gray top. Her hair was straight and cut off at her chin, complimented by a pair of square framed glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose. Her name was Alexandra Kendal, Lexi for short, and she was the DA Gabriella worked under.

Gabriella gave her a small smile, "Sorry, zoned out there for a minute." She readjusted the bag on her shoulder as she turned off the lamp at her desk and walked around it.

Lexi crossed her arms over her chest, "Who was that that just left?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Kevin McDaniels, he worked with Troy," Gabriella looked down, his name still produced a twinge of hurt, "he's the lead agent on Troy's murder case."

Lexi looked over her shoulder, "That idiot? I'd be better to do it myself."

Gabriella sighed, "I'd really wish they'd let me help, I'm good at seeing things where others don't, but he keeps making excuses. I'm meeting him tomorrow to discuss Troy and this is the most they've let me be involved so far."

Lexi tilted her head, "I wasn't aware you were interested in helping."

"I wasn't." Gabriella told her, "For a long time it was still too painful, but it's been a year and a half and I want some answers. Chad would never give me a copy, feeling like he has to protect me, and they won't release it because it's a government agent."

Lexi was studying Gabriella's face, "Someone owes me a favor down there, I'll get you that case file, if you're sure that's what you want?"

Gabriella was appreciative towards Lexi, she had been very involved with Gabriella's life since Troy's passing, having teenagers of her own, she often times got Gabriella babysitters when she needed them or watched Alex herself. She had been very understanding of Gabriella's want to stay behind the scenes of the court cases as opposed to arguing them in court, and she had stepped up to be way more than a boss to her.

Gabriella nodded, "Alex deserves to know what happened to his father," she worked very hard to keep her voice even, "and I deserve to know what happened to my husband."

Lexi nodded, "Okay, then I will get you the case file." Her eyes turned to Gabriella's packed bag, "Heading to pick up Alex?" Gabriella nodded, "How is he doing?"

Gabriella shrugged, her eyes downcast, "He realizes his dad is missing, but he has no memories of him besides through pictures I place all over the house."

Lexi pursed her lips, "And how are you doing?"

"Fine." Gabriella answered immediately and definitely, leaving no room in her tone for disagreement, "But hey, I'm already late, so…"

Lexi nodded, "Of course, I'll see you tomorrow."

Gabriella gave her a smile, as genuine as she could manage, "I'll be here." Lexi turned and walked out of the room, Gabriella following her out and turning to lock her door, only then noticing that her hands were shaking. She shut her eyes briefly and balled her hands into fists, sucking in a deep breath, "I'm fine," she whispered to herself, "I'm fine."

Fine was a relative term. To Lexi, Gabriella's fine meant she truly was fine, and the death of her husband over a year earlier didn't even weigh on her mind anymore. To Gabriella, her fine meant that on the outside she'd be strong. Strong for her husband's best friend who was struggling with the loss of the person he thought of as a brother, strong for her husband's parents who lost their only son, and strong for her twenty-two month old son who missed his father every day. But inside, her heart had been bleeding for over a year, and didn't look to be stopping anytime soon.


	3. Closure?

**A/N:** I still have rules and deadlines set for myself before I can post the next chapter, I swear. I'm...just ignoring them. :D

* * *

**Closure**

Gabriella peeked inside the oven, studying the lasagna inside carefully and judging on how much time was left until it was perfect. It was almost six and people were due to arrive any time now, and with the table set and food almost ready, Gabriella could finally relax for a moment.

Closing the oven and setting the time for fifteen minutes, Gabriella began untying her apron she had placed over her work clothes as she turned and gazed out of the kitchen and into the family room where her energetic son was sitting.

The television was on, but Alex wasn't at all interested in the episode of Spongebob playing, his head turned down at the puzzle he was currently trying to demolish with his monster truck. He really was a mixture of Gabriella and Troy, his love of puzzles definitely a feature of Gabriella's, and his love to then rip them apart after he finished them most definitely like his father. He was really smart, and while Troy would credit all of that to her, he always under flattered himself, and if Gabriella had to choose one of them he was most like, it was Troy.

Taking off the apron, she walked into the family room, "What did the puzzle do, bud?"

Alex looked up at his mother and Gabriella was struck, as she always was, by how he looked exactly like Troy, from his messy brown hair that he cried over every time Gabriella tried to cut it, to his intensely blue eyes.

"He's being chased, momma!"

Gabriella smiled at how serious Alex's face was and had no doubt that in Alex's imagination he was definitely being chased by something, "Chased by what, baby?"

Alex's eyes widened, "A _monster_!"

Gabriella made her face as serious as she could, "Oh no, is he going to get away?"

Alex rolled his eyes, "Of course, momma."

Gabriella laughed, "Of course, how silly of me." Gabriella reached down and ruffled his hair, "Mom's gonna be in her office." Gabriella stepped past him and didn't hear a response, only the resumption of sound effects.

Flipping on the light in her office, she walked over to her desk, her white laptop sitting open on the desk, Gabriella having booted it up a while ago before she started dinner. She didn't glance at the other desk, still covered with junk, just the way Troy left it, she never did. Gabriella had changed almost nothing about the house since Troy left. She didn't pack up his clothes, she didn't take down pictures, she didn't do anything. Their closet still held the faint scent of Troy, his shampoo, conditioner, body wash, razor and toothbrush never moved from the bathroom, and his side of the bed was still his side of the bed.

She knew people worried. Taylor worried, her mother worried, Troy's parents worried, and Gabriella's boss worried. They all thought it was unhealthy, they all thought she'd never get over it this way, and that was true, she wouldn't, and she didn't plan on it. Gabriella had fallen in love and married the love of her life, Troy was her soulmate, he was it for her, and that wasn't going to change just because he's dead.

Gabriella logged onto the internet and began checking her mail, reaching down and extracting the file she had been reading earlier while the page was loading. Her eyes paused on her bottom left drawer and she immediately bit her bottom lip before she reached down and rested her hand on the digital locking system.

It had been Troy's idea to get desks with a bottom locking drawer, mainly for him, giving him a safe place to put his gun where Alex couldn't get to it, but also for Gabriella and sensitive case files she had. She rarely ever brought more then a couple home at a time, and never super sensitive ones, so mainly the drawer had been empty up until a year and a half ago. Typing in the four digit code she had chosen, she pulled open the drawer, and blinked at the black laptop sitting inside.

Part of her felt bad for lying to the police. Part of her knew that they would only find who did this if they had all the information, and Gabriella knew that consisted of the contents of this laptop, Troy's laptop. But another part of her, a bigger part of her, agreed with Kevin when he said there was a leak inside the bureau, and that part trusted no one when it came to the information on this laptop.

Not that she knew what it was because she didn't actually have the courage to open the laptop.

Normally she wouldn't have any issues with it. Reading Troy's notes wasn't particularly emotional or heart wrenching, it was less the professional information everyone else was after and more the personal information left in the form of a single file on his hard drive. Besides the actual willing of material items following his death, he hadn't left her a letter or anything besides a single document name on his computer. She wasn't that surprised, Troy liked to keep things up to date, but if he was updating his will every week, Gabriella would've been upset. She had come straight home, taken out his laptop and prepared to look at it, but she just hadn't been able too, and in the time since she hadn't had the will or time, so it simply fell by the wayside.

Gabriella took in a deep breath and sighed as she stared down at the laptop. Her brain was telling her it could have valuable information, Troy had handled a lot of stuff in the family and it was hard for Gabriella to take over, but she had prevailed, in which case it was obsolete and no longer valid to her life. Still, she wanted to see Troy, but at the very same time, her heart knew this would be the last time, so she kept putting it off.

Pulling it out, she shut her own laptop and pushed it off to the side, placing his in the center of the desk and opening it. The laptop sprung to life and Gabriella had to blink as the illumination of the screen caught her eyes. As far as she knew it had been sitting in her desk drawer for a year, why wasn't the battery dead? However, her question was quickly forgotten when the picture that had always graced the background of his computer appeared.

Troy had snapped it while they were still in the hospital following Alex's birth, during the period when he had gone camera happy and taken pictures of everything…_everything_…there were multiple pictures that were deleted once Gabriella managed to get a hold of the camera, however, this one was one he had gotten to keep. It wasn't particularly special, just a simple picture of Gabriella breastfeeding Alex, Troy had about a dozen of them, but this particular time she hadn't known he was taking the picture and Troy caught Gabriella staring down at Alex with a look of pure love on her face.

It was embarrassing for Gabriella, especially considering he kept it on his computer he took to work, but Troy was always quick to point out that Alex was generally blocking anything showing, and Troy had told her that the reason he loved that picture was because the look on her face made him fall in love with her all over again. And, of course, when he said that, Gabriella couldn't possibly protest, even though she secretly thought that Troy only liked it because he could stare at her breast during work.

Her eyes glazed over, choosing to look away from the actual picture and to focus on the desktop in front of her and Troy's various folders. They were labeled with codenames for things she didn't understand, things she had never wanted Troy to tell her because she knew she wasn't supposed to know. There was a folder, up at the top right, labeled 'Alex' and Gabriella immediately moved her mouse to it, double clicking and watching as the screen opened in front of her.

A smiled fell on her lips as her eyes were filled with pictures of Alex from the first three months of his life. The messy birth photos as Troy cut the umbilical cord and the nurses cleaned him off, many from the hospital when he was sleeping in both Gabriella and Troy's arms, his nursery, stemming all the way up until he was three months. There was another folder labeled 'videos' and Gabriella didn't hesitate in clicking on it, her eyes running over all the various videos 'Alex's birth', 'Alex's first laugh', 'Alex's first smile', Gabriella was never sure how he did it, but he was always there with the camera when the moments happened.

Her head was filled with memories as she scrolled to the bottom, about to exit out of the page when one last video caught her eye, labeled 'Alex's first steps'. Gabriella blinked, several times, her mind churning with the information of this video on her deceased husband's laptop.

Troy died a year and a half ago.

Alex took his first steps eleven months ago.

Gabriella clicked on the video, maybe it was a preparation thing, maybe he just made all these files for when the events actually did happen and he just never made it farther then steps. A video box popped up on the screen and her brown eyes widened as she and Alex came onto the screen.

Gabriella was kneeling down, a video camera in one hand and her other one outstretched towards her son who was watching her carefully, gripping to the table he had used to pull himself into a standing position. Alex reached towards Gabriella, trying to get there without moving, but failing as Gabriella moved away, and Gabriella watched, as if it was the first time again, Alex take a large step towards her. It was his first steps, Gabriella would remember it with poignant clarity, but this was not the video she had taken. This was a different video taken from a different angle within her house by someone else.

And it was on Troy's laptop.

"Gabs?"

Gabriella jumped about a foot in the air at the sound of her name and her hand instinctively reached up and slammed the lid of the laptop shut, her eyes going to the door, where her name had sounded from, finding Taylor leaning up against the doorway. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a flowing purple tank top that dipped into a v and was cinched below her chest before ending at the tops of her thighs. Her hair was loose and flowing down to her shoulders in curls, framing her face.

She jarred when Gabriella jumped and blinked several times at her friend, "Are you okay?"

Gabriella's heart was beating rapidly, "Yeah, sorry, I didn't hear the doorbell, you scared me."

Taylor was eyeing her suspiciously, "Yeah, we rang it a couple of times before letting ourselves in," she pointed over her shoulder, "I took the lasagna out of the oven, it was done."

Gabriella stood up quickly rounding the desk and walking over to her friend, "Gosh, I didn't hear the timer go off."

Taylor shrugged, "That's fine, are you alright? What were you looking at?"

Gabriella shook her head, "It's…nothing, it's just been a long day." Gabriella pushed past Taylor and walked out into the living room to find Chad on the floor with a blanket covering a wiggling bump.

Gabriella paused to observe the two, taking in the way Chad played with Alex. Chad was hurt, and was still hurting, over Troy, just like Gabriella, and together, they really were the only two that understood the pain. He was her ally in everything, her defense against selling Troy's car in the garage, not changing the message on the answering machine, and taking off her wedding ring. Their pain was so different yet so similar that they didn't have a choice but to grieve together, and in doing so Chad became more then just Troy's best friend, he became her friend too.

"I can't find Alex," Chad told her with a smile as he held the blanket tight to the ground, "anywhere." The lump giggled.

Gabriella narrowed her eyes, "Hmm…I wonder where he went?" she asked rhetorically, "Well, if he's not here, who will eat all the cookies I made for dessert?" Gabriella sighed, "I guess I'll just have to throw them away."

"No!" Alex cried, scrambling out from under the blanket and running over to her, wrapping his little arms around her thigh, "No, momma, I'll eat them."

Gabriella sent him a look, "You'll eat them?" she bent down and picked him up, bringing him to rest on her hip, "You'll have to wash your hands first." Alex nodded his head eagerly, "And be an _extra_ good boy during dinner." Again Alex nodded his head, "And give me a kiss." Alex leaned forward and gave Gabriella a kiss on the cheek, Gabriella turning and kissing him exaggeratedly on the cheek, Alex giggling at his mother's antics. "Alright," Gabriella said pulling back, "let's go wash up so we can be ready for grandma and grandpa." Alex's eyes widened and he immediately launched into what he wanted to do with his grandparents as Gabriella led him to the bathroom to wash his hands.

* * *

Gabriella was twirling the stem of her half full wine glass as it sat on the table next to her, watching as Alex sat at the dining room table and showed his grandparents all the drawings he had made at daycare. It had been a good long while since Sarah and Jack Bolton had made it to LA to visit Alex, and she knew how much they had missed him because she knew how much Alex had missed them. Maria Montez was able to travel much more often then the Boltons so it was more of a treat for Alex to see Sarah and Jack, plus it helped both Troy's parents and Alex remember Troy, because he'd always ask incessant questions about his father, and while some might think it hurt to talk about their son, it helped Sarah and Jack.

Gabriella's feet were propped up and she was beginning to feel the combination of being exhausted and her glass of wine sinking in, her eyelids becoming heavy. In her state of incoherency, her mind began to drift and she thought back to Troy's computer sitting in the office.

Someone else had to have put that video on that computer. That much, Gabriella was certain, but the question was who? Gabriella hadn't even told Taylor and Chad that she had Troy's computer, so who could possibly know? It had to be someone with access to her house on a regular basis, or a really nice criminal who never stole anything, never hurt her or Alex, just put things onto that laptop.

It didn't make sense. No one else but Gabriella and Alex had been there that day. Her taping had been from her angle and Alex sure as hell didn't record anything, so how had that gotten recorded, and who put it on the laptop?

Gabriella looked down to the carpet in front of the couch…that was where he had taken his first steps. Her eyes turned upwards towards where the video had been shot and found the window next to the entertainment center that held the television. Was it really taken there? Did someone really take the video from outside of her house and put it on Troy's laptop? And if so, who was doing this? Wasn't an abusive father and a dead husband enough for some people? Did they really have to torture her more?

Gabriella broke out of her thoughts as the two spots on either side of her became filled and she looked over to see Chad and Taylor next to her. "Penny for your thoughts?" Taylor asked curiously, trying to decipher the look on her friend's face.

Gabriella blinked, "Nothing," she said quickly, shaking her head, "I'm just tired." She took a sip of her wine and swallowed it, "Tomorrow's the last day in court for this case, and I just can't wait for it to be over."

Taylor nodded, "I bet, do you have any new cases lined up?"

Gabriella paused. She could tell them about how she was getting Troy's case file, Taylor would help her, thinking this would help with closure, but Chad would demand she give him the file and stay out of it, he had taken it upon himself to be her protector in Troy's absence, and diving into a file that had already claimed Troy's life was definitely not something he would approve of. But she wasn't giving up, she needed to know.

"It's not really a case," Gabriella told her, "not yet at least, but we'll be doing our research and the whole nine yards. It's really rather boring," she added quickly to downplay it, "but it'll allow me to be home a lot more, so that's a plus."

"Are you sure?" Chad asked and Gabriella turned her head to face him, "Because if you wanted to work more, we'd take Alex."

Gabriella smiled, "No, Chad, you cannot have my son."

"You sure?" Chad asked, "Because he can be a handful, and I wouldn't want you to be overwhelmed."

"I know," Gabriella said, "I raised him to be a handful so he can give his Uncle Chad hell."

Chad's eyes widened and he nodded his head, a smile on his lips, "Oh, well, good job, mission accomplished."

Gabriella smiled as she looked over at Alex who was talking animatedly with Jack, "Actually, I didn't do anything, he's just naturally like Troy." Gabriella bit her lip as sadness took over her face and Chad felt the smile slip off of his face.

Taylor observed the two, seeing it was time to step in, "So Gabs, what did Kevin McDaniels want?"

Gabriella blinked a few times before turning her head to face Taylor, thankful for the change of subject, however, not onto this topic, "Uh, he…"

"What was McDaniels doing at your work?" the tone of Chad's question wasn't playful and she definitely heard the underlying layer of bitterness.

Gabriella glanced over at Chad, "He wants Troy's laptop and I told him for the millionth time, I don't have it, and he basically came to tell me they found nothing."

Chad sighed heavily, "I know, I wish they'd search harder." He glanced over at Gabriella, "I want you two to stay away from him, I don't trust him."

"Why?" Gabriella asked, she knew Chad didn't _like_ Kevin, for the same reason she didn't, but she thought he still trusted him.

Chad swallowed, as if he was about to tell them top secret information, "They won't allow me on the case, conflict of interest and all that, but I still catch things, and other people aren't so…rule abiding…and I catch glimpses." Chad shook his head, "Things aren't linking up, stories aren't making sense, and Kevin's the lead agent, he should be catching these things."

Gabriella stared at Chad, her voice low, "Kevin told me he thinks there's a leak at the bureau."

Chad sent her a look, "There's been a leak since before Troy died," he said simply, "Kevin knew that, and he's just now doing something about it."

"You think he's the leak?" Taylor asked.

"I'm not allowed to think that," Chad told them, "but either way, I still don't like him and I want you to stay away from him."

Taylor shrugged, "He's a slimeball anyways, I will gladly stay away from him." Gabriella was looking down but nodded in agreement when Chad looked at her. She should probably cancel the thing with Kevin the next day, but he already knew where she worked, he'd just be waiting for her when she walked out.

"Chad," Gabriella started, looking up at him curiously, "you don't know where Troy's laptop is, do you?"

Chad shook his head, "No, I wish I did, but I don't." Gabriella sighed and looked down, "Why, do you know where it is?"

Gabriella shook her head immediately, "No," twinge of guilt, "Kevin's just so eager to find it."

Chad nodded, "So am I, Troy had everything on the laptop, it was linked with his phone, he sent files there…"

"He could update it?" Gabriella asked, "From somewhere else?"

Chad shrugged, "Anywhere his phone was." Gabriella's eyebrows scrunched together, her mind running over everything, "Why?"

Her words were slow, "So you think he sent something to his computer before he died?" she looked up at him, "Like a picture or a text message or something?"

"Troy would," Chad answered simply, "he had so much to live for that he would want to die giving us some kind of closure." He sighed, "It's why I'm glad, so far, that the FBI hasn't been able to locate the laptop, I wouldn't want it falling into the wrong hands."

"Momma!" Gabriella, Chad, and Taylor all looked over at Alex's excited exclamation, seeing the almost two year old running towards Gabriella, Gabriella holding out her arms as Alex climbed up to her. He scrunched up on her lap and threw his arms around her neck, Gabriella smiling as her arms went around him and he settled his head in the crook of her neck. "Are grandma and grandpa gonna sleep over?"

"Yeah bud," Gabriella told him with a smile at Sarah and Jack as they walked over towards the couch, "and tomorrow you get to play with them the _whole_ day."

Alex pulled back and looked at her with wide eyes, "Grandpa's gonna take me to the park to learn bassetball."

Gabriella smiled, "I think you mean basketball."

Chad mock gasped next to Gabriella and reached over to take Alex from Gabriella's grasp, "You can't go to the park and learn basketball without _me_!"

Alex stared at Chad curiously, "Why not?"

"Because your dad would most definitely not approve," Chad told him, touching the end of Alex's nose with his finger, "we played when we were little, just like you."

"You _did_?" Alex asked enthusiastically, he always was when the topic turned to his father, "Was he good?"

Chad nodded, "The best."

"Whoa!" Alex said as he leaned his head up against Chad's shoulder.

Gabriella smiled over at Alex, "Is someone tired?" Alex shook his head, but his eyes were drooping as he shoved it into his uncle's neck. "Time for bed."

Gabriella pushed up and reached over to take Alex as his arms tightened around Chad's neck, "No!"

"Yes." Gabriella mocked, dragging out the word the way Alex had, "We've gotta take a bath and get ready for bed." Gabriella gave up on pulling him off of Chad and stood up, "Say goodnight to Uncle Chad and Aunt Tay."

Alex whined in protest as Chad stood up with him still in his arms, Taylor right next to him, "Your mom's right," Chad told him as he pulled back, staring at the little boy, "me and Aunt Tay need to go home anyways."

Alex pouted, "But you'll come to the park tomorrow, right?"

"I won't," Taylor announced drawing the little boy's attention, "but Uncle Chad will." Taylor held out her hands, "Give me hug?" Alex grinned and immediately reached out for Taylor, throwing his arms around her neck as Taylor planted a kiss on his cheek, "Behave for your mom."

Chad reached over and kissed his other cheek, "But misbehave for your grandparents."

"Hey now," Jack said from beside Gabriella, "just because you're twenty seven doesn't mean I can't bust your butt."

Chad grinned widely as Gabriella took Alex from him before dropping his smile and his eyes, "Yes, coach."

Taylor rolled her eyes, "Jeeze, you really never will grow up will you?"

Chad shook his head, "Probably not, and you really should've known that going into this thing." Chad stepped forward and gave Gabriella a quick hug along with Sarah and Jack.

Taylor did the same, saving Gabriella for last, "Good luck in court tomorrow, call me and let me know how it turns out, tomorrow we can have dinner at our house."

Gabriella nodded, "Sounds like a plan, I'll call you." Alex's head was already resting on her shoulder, and Gabriella knew he was close to sleep, "Night." And with one final wave, they were gone.

* * *

Alex had been asleep as soon as Gabriella had laid him in his bed, the excitement from all the people at dinner wearing on him. Gabriella had stayed up and chatted with Troy's parents for about an hour, but it hadn't taken long for them to retire to the guest room, tired from their traveling that day, leaving Gabriella to take to her bedroom, reading for a few hours, before trying to fall asleep.

Emphasis on trying.

She had been staring at her ceiling for a good hour now, her mind buzzing over things she hadn't allowed her mind to buzz over in a long time. There had been days, shortly after Troy had died, that Gabriella had thought he was still alive. Not because she saw hallucinations or anything like that, it was more just a presence. She'd walk down the steps and be hit with his scent and swear he had just walked by that spot. Or she'd walk into Alex's nursery at night and the chair sitting by his bed would be warm when she lowered herself into it.

They were always small things. Things that could be explained by something else. Troy's scent took months to fade from the house, and there were still moments when it would hit her, and the rocking chair was next to a heater, so it was probably warm with that. But she had allowed herself to think that one morning she'd wake up and Troy would be lying next to her, Alex would run into the bed and the three would just be a family like they had always dreamt they would be.

But she grew out of it. The scent dulled, Alex's room changed and the chair no longer became a factor, and she came to the realization that Troy was not coming back. It was hard, but necessary to be able to find the strength to actually get out of bed every morning and raise their son.

But now her mind was running ramped. How had Troy's computer miraculously had a full battery? How had that file been on there? No one else knew about the computer but her and besides Alex, no one but her has been in that office. Nothing made sense and it was messing with her mind.

Gabriella chewed on her bottom lip as she sighed into her empty bedroom, she needed to go to bed. Like now. But her mind wouldn't let her, and she knew her mind wouldn't let her until it got some answers. Gabriella ran her hand through her hair absentmindedly, scratching her scalp softly before lifting up her left hand and staring at the ring she never removed from her third finger.

"What did you leave me with?" Her voice was soft and there was no answer, not that she expected one.

Gabriella reached over and gripped the pillow next to her with her left hand, as if Troy was there, before turning onto her side and throwing back the covers. The house was quiet and she had to be careful, because if she woke Alex, everyone would be awake. The hallway was easy to sneak down, Gabriella's bedroom being at the top, a necessity for Troy when they bought the house, saying that it had to be there for when they had a girl, because there was no way in hell that his baby girl was sneaking in or out of the house. Not that he'd hear the non-existent daughter he never had, because he was the heaviest sleeper in the world.

Gabriella reached the ground floor and immediately headed towards the office, crossing her arms over her stomach, a chill passing over her body and making her shiver beneath the pair of Troy's boxers and his t-shirt she had worn to bed, less from any actual chill and more from the darkness. Seven or twenty seven and there was still a part of her that was afraid of the dark.

She arrived and swept over to the desk, sitting down and opening up the laptop, blinking several times at the brightness of the screen. It didn't take long to boot up and Gabriella mainly zoned out for the majority of it, her body still tired, her mind just keeping her awake, and her eyes glazed over in a similar way to the picture gracing the background. She moved her finger to the mouse and moved it over to his documents, the files immediately appearing, Gabriella not understanding half of them, scrolling down until she found her name sitting on top of a file.

There was one of two ways this would go. Either she'd find closure from whatever was within this file, happy to just have another piece of him, and maybe she'd be able to only look back on him with happy memories. Or she'd burst into tears. Either way.

She clicked on the file and was greeted with pictures of herself, just like the ones in Alex's files, taking place all over their life together, high school, college, wedding, during her pregnancy, the birth, and other various pictures that made her heart ache at the memories it brought forth, but she pushed them back, she had an intention and she wasn't going to back out this time. The file name she had read on the note he had left her was 'iloveyou', and it was, of course, the last one at the very bottom.

She clicked on the file and found exactly what she expected, a single video file sitting inside. The picture attached to the file was of Troy, exactly the way she remembered him, and she could already feel her eyes welling up and she hadn't even started watching it yet, yeah, most definitely the bursting into tears thing. She took a deep breath and released it slowly before clicking on the file, the video player immediately popping up and suddenly her screen was filled with Troy.

At first she wasn't sure it was playing, because Troy wasn't moving or talking, and just as she went to hit the play button in the center, Troy sighed and looked down.

"_I had the choice between doing this,"_ Troy started, still looking down, _"or writing you a letter. Words were never my strong suit, so I chose this, however," _he looked up and a small smile was playing on his lips, _"turns out this is just as hard, so I really hope I did the right thing."_ He took a deep breath and swallowed hard, _"I died at work, I know I did, I always knew I would, and while I'm recording this, I wish that information was enough to make me quit and find a less dangerous job. But if I did that, you'd just tell me that the statistics of me dying on the job were small and talk me into staying."_

"_It's part of our life insurance to make a will,"_ he rolled his eyes, _"not that I needed to, you got everything, you knew you would, and even if I had given it to Chad as a challenge for you just to see if you could get it, you would've, you're an amazing lawyer, you know that, you went to Harvard, and I'm not really sure if I ever said it, but I am so proud of you, I always have been."_

He paused, looking away from the camera for a moment before reconnecting his eyes, _"The purpose of this video is a way for me to tell you how much I love you and Alex and to tell you that I'll always be with you, no matter what. It's to tell you that it's okay to move on, I mean, I know you won't, that was almost the problem with us, we were so in love that nothing could measure up, and I know if the positions were reversed, I wouldn't move on, but if someday you did find someone that made you happy, I would want you to be with them. It's to tell you I'm sorry that we didn't get our happily every after, and that I don't get to be there when Alex grows up. And it's to apologize for the shit I'm going to leave you with, because this is not over."_

He pursed his lips, and his jaw was clenched, a sign of anger, _"You're not going to do this alone. Mark my words, you won't, but it might seem like you are, for a while at least. Good and evil aren't as clear cut as you think they are, and people you should be able to trust, you can't. The fact that you're watching this video and haven't turned this over to the FBI who is," _he lifted his hands up and made air quotes, _"'investigating' my death, is proof enough that you don't trust the right people."_

Troy sighed, _"I know this seems like a lot, but it's just because it's very condensed, trust me when I say this will all turn out alright, just be the good mother I know you are, and promise me you'll not neglect yourself. I know you won't want to, but do me a favor and delete this video once you're done watching it"_ He looked down, _"I love you and Alex so much more then simple words could ever describe, and I will be watching over you." _He looked back up, _"Goodbye."_

The screen went black and Gabriella blinked several times. She felt the wetness on her cheeks from the tears that had fallen and she shut her eyes as she tried to control the ones that were about to fall, breathing in a shaky breath. She felt the sadness that she expected to feel, but it was more then that, she was also very confused by the video she had just watched. What had he meant by it wasn't over? Had he known one of Salinas' people would murder him? No, he couldn't have possibly, not even in hindsight. And she got what he said when he told her he was watching over her, but the way he had said it made it sound like something much more.

Gabriella opened her eyes and shook her head as she closed out of the video application and right clicked on the file, preparing to delete it when her eyes moved over to the date the video was last modified. November 2nd of the previous year.

A year after Troy had died.

Gabriella's eye caught movement out of the corner of it and she looked over at the glass of a picture frame sitting on her desk and she swore she saw Troy staring back at her, and not from the picture.

She spun around and gazed out the dark window that led to their front yard, locating nothing, only the trees blowing from the summer breeze and the faint noise of the city in the background. But she had seen him. She swore that was him.

Gabriella jumped up and scurried out of the office, careful to keep her footsteps quiet as she practically ran over to the front door and unlocked it, opening it and rushing out onto the sidewalk, her head turning to either side looking for movement, any kind of movement. Some sort of sign that she wasn't crazy, that she wasn't suddenly starting to envision Troy over a year later, that maybe she hadn't been so insane when she had imagined a few nights when she had cried herself to sleep that Troy had held her, that his scent wasn't imagined, that he had been there for all of Alex's milestones, and that he wasn't dead.

But there wasn't movement.

Gabriella tried to hide the disappointment that washed over her, but she brought her hand up and pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. She knew he wasn't alive, but she always pulled at any string of hope that was dangled in front of her, and she always had her heartbroken. She turned and walked back into the house with a heavy heart, re-locking the door, and heading straight to bed, glad Alex wasn't having nightmares that particular night because she didn't want him to see his mother cry herself to sleep.

And in doing so she missed the figure that darted across her front yard.


	4. Unraveling

**A/N:** It's short, sorry. But...well...I can't really explain without ruining the plot...so yeah. Enjoy and the next update won't be too far away.

Thanks to the lovely Abigail for betaing this monster, she's the best.

* * *

**Unraveling**

Court was boring.

Normally Gabriella enjoyed her job, every aspect of her job, the studying, the court dates, the actual arguing in court, and especially the justice part. But normally Gabriella wasn't tired, and normally she hadn't spent most of the night crying over her dead husband. She was zoning out, and she was glad that they had pretty much won the case, otherwise she was certain Lexi would be pissed at her.

It didn't help that she wasn't actually arguing the case and just sitting at the table handling all of the files. It was a boring job on days that she had had a full night's rest, but it was the job Lexi had given Gabriella a year and a half ago when she returned to work, and there had been no talk to move her back to arguing her own cases. Gabriella hadn't handled her own case since before Alex was born.

Gabriella remembered it vividly. It had been a typical case they took on rape-homicide, jilted lover upset over his ex-lover moving on without him. They had the evidence, and the story that he was trying to spin wasn't working on the jury. Gabriella had been nine months pregnant at the time. Troy had been there, saying that he just wanted to watch her in court, but the case was involving a rather high profile family and their socialite son was the accused, and even though he didn't voice his opinion, Troy was against his very pregnant wife being so out in the open about convicting him. Probably rightfully so, because the boy, who obviously had issues with strong women, mixed with Gabriella's ability to get injured during the most secure moments, was definitely a recipe for disaster.

_Flashback:_

"_So you and the victim were dating?"_

"_We had broken up," the twenty two year old blonde said in a bored voice, "but we were still _seeing_ each other, if you get my drift." Eric Montgomery was the son of the high powered Montgomery family. He looked debonair in his gray suit and tie, but even his handsome features couldn't overcome his natural arrogance he had been exuding the entire case, and Gabriella knew the jury was seeing through the carefully constructed personality created by his legal team._

_Gabriella turned towards the jury, they were her audience, not Eric, not the packed courtroom, just the jury. She was dressed in a black pair of pregnancy suit pants that barely stretched over her swollen stomach, paired with a white tank top with wide straps on the shoulder before dipping down into a v displaying her pregnancy cleavage, cinched just below it and hanging down over her stomach. Lawyers typically wore suit jackets in court, but given that it was August and she was pregnant in California, the judge had smiled and gestured for her to take it off. Her long dark hair was straightened, parted on the side, and clipped back in a low ponytail, making her look very professional._

"_You mean having sex?" Gabriella asked._

"_Obviously." Eric answered._

_Gabriella turned back towards him, "And you were unaware that she had a new boyfriend?"_

"_Yes," Eric answered, "but to be honest we didn't do a whole lot of talking."_

_Gabriella linked her hands together and placed them below her stomach, "And tell me, why is it that she didn't tell any of her friends that she was seeing you?" a sarcastic smile stretched on her face, "Surely a catch like you would be brag worthy material." _

_His lawyer stood up, "Your honor!"_

_The judge rolled his eyes, "Mrs. Bolton." He said in a stern voice._

_Gabriella didn't let her smile falter, "She was very open with your relationship before, why would she change now?"_

_Eric's jaw was clenched, she was totally winning and he knew it, "I asked her not to."_

_Gabriella raised her eyebrows, "You asked her not to?" _

_Eric nodded, "My family didn't approve of her and I didn't want to upset them."_

_Gabriella nodded and looked down, "Okay, so you two were seeing each other, but neither her new boyfriend and friends knew, and her doorman never remembered seeing you until the night of her murder, am I correct?"_

_Eric shrugged, "The doorman must be mistaken."_

_Gabriella nodded, "Must be." She turned and walked towards the jury, "Now tell me what happened on the night of June sixteenth." _

_Eric tossed some of his blonde locks out of his face, "I went over to Jennifer's apartment, just like I often did, we had sex, I left."_

_Gabriella turned and walked over to the table fishing through her organized mess and finding the remote, "We have video here of you entering the apartment," she pointed the remote at the TV and the courtroom watched as Eric crossed the street holding a black bag in his hands. Gabriella froze it, "what's in the bag?"_

_Eric looked a little thrown off but shrugged, "Toys…surely even you get kinky every now and again?"_

_Gabriella ignored his comment, "Hmm," she hit fast forward and they watched the tape progress before Gabriella paused it again at his reappearance, freezing it on him crossing the street again, "And here you are leaving the apartment thirty minutes later, no bag, changed clothes." Gabriella tilted her head, "Why did you change your clothes?"_

_Eric grinned, "Jennifer was impatient, she had a tendency to tear things."_

"_He's a fucking liar!" Gabriella spun around to see Jennifer's new boyfriend standing up and pointing at Eric, anger and pain all over his face, "She would never touch you!"_

_The judge banged his gavel, "Order, I want order in my court."_

_Gabriella took a quick step forward and her hands braced the wooden fence that divided the courtroom, "Michael, sit down!" she hissed._

"_But she did," Eric retorted, not helping matters, "many times."_

_Michael, who was halfway in the aisle lunged forward, his intent to get to Eric and knock anyone out of his way, including Gabriella. Gabriella jumped back against the table, but Michael never made it past the wooden fence, the bailiffs detaining him._

_Gabriella's eyes were wide and she couldn't help but have them slip to Troy who was sitting in the front row, lowering himself back into his seat he had obviously risen out of to protect her just in case the bailiffs hadn't been there._

"_Mr. Lutz," the judge said firmly to Eric's lawyer, "control your client, another outburst and he is in contempt." Troy locked eyes with Gabriella and sent her a look screaming 'I told you so', but he kept his mouth shut, "Mrs. Bolton, are you alright?"_

"_Yes," Gabriella said quickly, turning back to the case, "so Eric, you say she has a tendency to tear things, then how do you explain this?" Gabriella picked up a bag from the table with a white shirt on the inside, "A white shirt found in a dumpster outside of Jennifer's apartment with all of the buttons intact."_

_Eric shrugged, "Not my shirt."_

"_Not your shirt?" Gabriella asked, "But it has your DNA on it, it has your initials sewn into it," Gabriella flipped it over, "and most importantly it has blood on it."_

"_I cut myself," Eric said quickly, obviously having been expecting this, "I'm rather clumsy and I just cut myself, didn't have a bandaid, must have gotten onto my shirt."_

_Gabriella smiled, she won, "Then how do you explain the DNA from the stain matching Jennifer's?" Gabriella turned back and set down the shirt, picking up a DNA match, "The blood matches Jennifer Banks with 99.9% accuracy." Gabriella walked up and held it in front of his face, his eyes reading the words._

"_You know what I think happened?" Gabriella asked, "I think Jennifer broke up with you because she got tired of you controlling her, and you didn't like that, and you especially didn't like when she got a new boyfriend, someone she loved and who loved her." Gabriella leaned her hands up against the wooden frame Eric was encased in, her face close to his, "You couldn't take it, she had moved on, you knew she had moved on, and you knew you couldn't let that happen." Gabriella raised her eyebrows, "So you murdered her."_

_Eric didn't flinch, not even a little bit, and in his brown eyes Gabriella saw no regret, "I know I can see straight down your top."_

_Oh yeah, she had definitely won. "Mr. Montgomery!" the judge said firmly._

_Gabriella smirked, "Take a good look because you're not going to be seeing anything like it where you're going." Gabriella took a step back and looked at the judge, "The prosecution rests." There was a murmur in the courtroom as Gabriella spun on her heel and began walking towards the table._

"_You bitch!" god, you think they'd come up with better insults._

_Gabriella's eyes widened as she felt the ponytail of her hair grabbed and she didn't even have a chance to react before she was pulled backwards. Luckily the bailiff was right next to him and able to restrain him, but Gabriella lost her footing and fell with a thump onto the floor._

_Lexi stood up immediately, "Gabriella!"_

_Gabriella vaguely heard Eric dragged from the courtroom yelling expletives but her hand immediately flew to her stomach, merely out of habit as she stayed on her back, not moving. Lexi made it to her side first, but only seconds before Troy did, falling on his knees next to her, "Someone get an ambulance!" Troy yelled out, his hand going to her stomach._

"_I've got them right here." Lexi said with her cell phone to her head._

_Gabriella shook her head, "No, no, no, I'm fine."_

_Troy wasn't listening to her, "I can feel him kicking."_

"_I know," Gabriella said, "he's fine, I absorbed the fall."_

_Troy was looking wearily at Gabriella, obviously not wanting to take any chances, "You sure?"_

_Gabriella nodded, pressing her hand on top of Troy's, "You feel him kicking, he's fine."_

_Troy sighed, staring at her disapprovingly, "You sure…you don't feel the slightest twinge of pain or aching?"_

_Gabriella shook her head, "My ass hurts, but I've got a big enough one that it's not going to hurt long."_

_Troy sent her a look, obviously not happy with her injection of humor, "I told you this would happen, I knew you should've already taken maternity leave."_

_Troy went to pick her up and she tried to unsuccessfully resist, "Whoa, wait, what are you doing?"_

"_You may be fine, but you're still going home." Troy told her as he stood up with Gabriella in his arms, "You are nine months pregnant, and I am practicing my right as your husband to detain you, so consider yourself officially detained."_

_Gabriella scoffed as he turned with her in his arms, her head turning to look for her boss and friend, "Lexi…"_

_Lexi appeared in front of the couple, piling Gabriella's briefcase, purse, and jacket on her stomach, "I'll do closing arguments, call me when he's born!"_

_Gabriella's jaw dropped and her eyes widened at her friend's statement, while Troy steered her out of the courtroom. "Traitor!" Gabriella yelled out as Troy took her through the double doors and out of the courthouse._

_End Flashback_

Troy had been right, as he always was, halfway home with Gabriella riding in the passenger seat, because she couldn't fit behind the steering wheel, griping about how mad at Troy she was and how he was sleeping on the sofa that night, her water broke. Twelve hours later, Alex had come into the world, and that was her last time arguing a court case.

Gabriella looked up when she was nudged out of her memory and shot up in her seat when she saw everyone else was standing. The judge walked out of the room and the second his door was shut, the room burst into conversations.

Lexi turned to Gabriella, "Where were you?"

Gabriella shook her head, bringing her hands up and running them over her face, "Sorry, I'm exhausted, I didn't sleep well last night."

Lexi nodded her head and began walking out of the courtroom, "We have a fifteen minute recess, and then the jury should be back, think you can hold on that long?"

Gabriella nodded as she noticed they were heading towards the bathroom and she began making her way towards the water fountain, "I'll be fine, I've still got a day of paperwork at the office, so going home and taking a nap isn't an option, plus even if I could fit it in, Alex is at home and would want to play as soon as I walked in the door."

Lexi nodded her head, "Is Alex having nightmares again?" Gabriella turned her eyes towards her, curiosity etched into them, "Did he keep you up last night?"

Understanding washed over her features and Gabriella looked down, "No it was just…" she shook her head, "…something else."

Lexi noted the sadness in her voice and felt for her friend, "By the way," she said, changing the subject, "I can get you Troy's file tonight," Gabriella stopped walking and turned to face Lexi, "but it won't be until seven or seven thirty when I get back to the office."

Gabriella chewed on her bottom lip slightly, looking down, "Hmm…I have something…" she shook her head, "that's okay, it can be pushed back."

Lexi shrugged her shoulders, "I can just give it to you tomorrow."

Gabriella shook her head, "No, I'd rather have it sooner then later." Gabriella took a step over, her back to the drinking fountains as she began to walk backwards towards them, "I should be in my office when you get in, just drop it off."

Gabriella paused slightly when she felt her back ram into something hard, and she stumbled but regained her balance, glancing over her shoulder to see someone move past her, obviously the person she had run into, "Excuse me." He mumbled.

"Oh, sorry," Gabriella called after him, refocusing on her friend, "I really appreciate this…" she trailed off as she took another step back and felt something crunch beneath her feet, looking down immediately to see a piece of jewelry, necklace or bracelet, sitting on the floor. She looked up at the back of the person she had just run into, working his way through the crowd, and bent down to pick up the object, "Sir, wait," Gabriella yelled after him, "you dropped your…" she glanced down to confirm it was a necklace and the word fell short on her lips, her eyes taking in the silver link chain that felt cool against her warm skin with an attached charm that was hanging over the edge of her palm, dangling before her eyes, the light capturing a small red stone embedded in the top right hand corner of the T.

Oh god.

Gabriella's eyes became wide and frantic as she began scanning the crowd that was mulling about the hallway that had seconds ago seemed rather calm, but now felt like it was booming with activity. Lexi was saying something but Gabriella wasn't paying attention as she began rushing forward, running into people and heading towards the door she had seen the stranger heading towards. No one had access to this necklace. _No one_, except herself and…

She slammed the door open and ran out onto the concrete, her eyes taking in every which direction, looking for a sign, any sign. He had been wearing a sweatshirt, black or blue, some dark color, jeans, tennis shoes, he looked like half of the people out here. He hadn't had a discernable factor on him. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Where was he? It had to be him. Her sanity was at the brink and this couldn't be a cruel joke, it just couldn't be.

Gabriella felt a hand on her shoulder and she spun around to come face to face with Lexi, "Gabriella, what is it?"

Gabriella held up the necklace, "This is the necklace Troy gave to me when we were teenagers, only I have access to this necklace, no one else." Gabriella pointed behind her, "That was Troy, that _had_ to be Troy…"

Lexi started nodding and stepped forward, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as she led her back into the courtroom, "Okay, honey, you need to go home and get some sleep."

"No," Gabriella said firmly, "I am not imagining this, it is _not_ in my head."

"Honey," Lexi said softly but firmly, "Troy is dead."

Gabriella snatched her hand away from her, "Not yet, he isn't."

Gabriella turned and stalked off, heading down the steps of the courthouse and over to her car, she didn't care if everyone thought she was crazy, something was going on and she was going to figure out what.


	5. Trust No One

**Trust No One**

Gabriella had stayed out for the rest of the day. Not wanting to go back to the office to face Lexi, knowing how crazy she had sounded at the courthouse, and afraid of what might wait for her when she returned. She hadn't really done anything besides sit in her car and do her paperwork, but it had allowed her the silence she needed to process, and upon arriving back at the office, she had found Troy's file sitting on her desk.

That was almost an hour ago, and after shutting the door, she had sat down on the floor and began sifting through the file, running over interrogations from everyone involved, personal notes from Justin, Kevin, and Chad, a stack of photos of the crime scene, and a list of possible suspects they had questioned and eliminated. It was helping, she was definitely getting a lot of the answers she had been seeking, but at the very same time, a lot was missing.

The agents themselves had never been questioned or interrogated, therefore none of them ever being cleared. Troy's gun and badge were never recovered, and the tracing of the maker of the bomb led to an uninvestigated lead. And there was no autopsy. There weren't even any pictures of Troy dead. The file had been sealed when Gabriella got to her office, so Lexi hadn't removed them for her sake, so where were they?

Her head knew Troy was dead, her head knew that he had been pronounced dead at the ER, and he head knew that it was insane to think otherwise. She couldn't think otherwise, because if she thought otherwise, it opened a whole new floodgate of questions. Most importantly…why?

Gabriella glanced at her watch, she had to meet with Kevin soon, and she was sure as hell going to get to the bottom of this. Screw keeping the file a secret, he wasn't doing his job, and if he continued to not do his job, she was going to his boss, Don, and if he did nothing, she'd go all the way to the head of the FBI, and if they did nothing, she'd go to the press. This was one of their own, they should do way more then a half ass job on finding the killer.

A knock rang out on the door and Gabriella paused for a moment as she looked up to the doorway from the ground, "Who is it?" she wasn't expecting anyone and Kevin was supposed to meet her at the coffee place.

"Me." Gabriella's eyes widened at the sound of Chad's voice, her having the file would not go over well. She immediately began gathering everything up and stuffing it into the file, "Can I come in?"

"Uh," she started, "yeah, just a second." Gabriella grabbed the last few papers on the ground and shoved them into the folder before standing up quickly. Her laptop case was sitting on the chair and she stuffed the folder inside just as the door opened and Chad peered inside, "Hey," Gabriella said with a smile as she put her hands on her hips, "Chad, what's up?"

Chad smiled at her as he walked in, "Nothing much, is this a bad time?"

Gabriella shook her head, "I have a meeting in a few minutes, but I was just doing some paperwork, nothing I can't take a break from." Chad nodded as he walked in and shut the door behind him, "I thought you were going to the park with Jack and Alex?" Gabriella asked, trying to make small talk and make herself seem nonchalant.

"We did," Chad told her, "but…he's two and fell asleep."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, bringing her hand up to scratch the back of her neck, "Right, of course."

Chad sighed, "So…Lexi called me." He told her as he looked down, "Told me what happened today at the courthouse."

Gabriella pursed her lips and looked down, any hint of happiness on her face gone, "Of course she did."

"She's just worried," Chad told her, "don't be mad at her, I asked her to keep an eye on you."

Gabriella lifted her eyebrows, but didn't look up, "How wonderful of you."

Her voice was dry and Chad knew she didn't mean it, but chose to ignore her tone, "I didn't realize you were having hallucinations."

Gabriella looked up at him sharply, "I'm not having hallucinations, and don't say it like that, I'm not crazy, I know what I saw."

Chad shook his head, keeping his voice even, "No, you don't, because you couldn't have, and I know you know that." Gabriella turned sharply away from Chad and walked over to her desk, slamming her laptop shut and gathering up her belongings, "Gabriella, I saw him sometimes too," his voice was reasoning but Gabriella refused to look at him, "I know what it's like, it's normal, but not a year and a half later."

"How do you know what's normal?" Gabriella bit out looking up at him with anger etched in her face, "How the hell do you know what it's like?" she shouldered her purse and rounded the desk, shoving her laptop in its case, "From where I stand, you lost a friend," she had tears brimming on the edge of her eyes and she saw the hurt flash across Chad's face at her words, "you still have your wife, when Taylor dies then talk to me about normal, because _you _still have the love of your life, Chad," Gabriella picked up her briefcase and sidestepped him, "so don't tell me you know what its like, you have no idea."

Gabriella yanked open the door and began walking out, "Gabs…" Chad tried, but Gabriella just continued walking, not glancing back as she stormed out of the office.

* * *

Gabriella was not in the mood to be sitting across from Kevin McDaniels inside of a crowded coffee shop. Her mind couldn't stay focused on Kevin or any of the pointless things he was chatting about, nor did she really even want to be in the presence of him. Her mind was all over the place, it was stuck on the video message she had watched of Troy's, it was hung up on the necklace and mysterious stranger at the courthouse, her words she had exchanged with Chad were plaguing her mind, and Troy's file was also mushed inside of her head.

Her nail was scraping at the paint on the cup of coffee she hadn't taken a sip of and her eyes were set on the table. She had to be the most uninteresting person to have coffee with, yet Kevin just kept talking, and none of it was about Troy. He hadn't inquired about the laptop, he hadn't asked her if Troy had acted strangely before his death, he hadn't asked her anything, and his lack of questions was pissing her off.

"The weather's supposed to be gorgeous this weekend," Kevin started and Gabriella looked up at his sudden change in subject, "do you have plans with Alex?"

Gabriella sighed, "Troy's parents are in town, I expect we'll do something."

Kevin nodded, "Good, I love that little tyke, he's such a great kid."

Gabriella nodded, "The best."

Kevin sighed, staring at her, "So, I was going to come here and talk to you about Troy's case, but I think I'd rather just hang out with you tonight."

Gabriella smiled tightly, "I think I'd rather discuss the case."

Kevin pursed his lips, "Well, I'm gonna be frank with you Gabriella," he paused taking in her reaction, "I'm pretty sure you're lying to me."

Gabriella tilted her head, "About what?"

Kevin smiled and looked down at his coffee, "About what." He laughed quietly, "Probably the fact that you have to ask that says a lot."

"Probably," Gabriella quirked an eyebrows, "but I'm here now, you can ask me anything you'd like."

"I'd like his laptop." Kevin said immediately.

"Me too." Gabriella quipped, "Next question."

He shook his head, "That wasn't a question."

"I know," Gabriella started, "funny, because you'd _think_, as the lead agent on the case, you'd be full of questions for the wife of your victim, but you're not, why is that?"

Kevin took a deep breath and Gabriella could tell he was calming himself down, great, she wanted to get to him, "If you have something you want to ask me, ask me."

"I have a lot of things I want to ask you," Gabriella told him, "number one, where are the autopsy photos?" Kevin's face fell, confusion washing over his features at her question, "Number two, why weren't the agents questioned and cleared," she pointed at him, "why weren't you questioned and cleared?"

Kevin looked down, "Who gave you a copy of the case file?"

"I want Chad on this case," Gabriella said firmly, "and I want you off of it."

"Who gave you the case file?" Kevin asked again more firmly.

"Everyone is right to not trust you," Gabriella spit out, "and I swear if you had a part in this, you will pay."

"Who gave you the damn file?" Kevin finally yelled, many people around them turning to look at the pair as Gabriella stood up abruptly.

"You picked the wrong family to fuck with." Gabriella told him coldly before turning on her heel and storming out of the coffee shop.

Kevin grinded his teeth, anger surging through him before he shot up and darted after her, following her out onto the street, "Wait…wait…Gabi…wait."

He grabbed her arm and she spun around, pulling it from his grasp, "My name is Gabriella, and don't tell me to wait, _you_ are the one that called Troy that day, _you_ are the one that walked out of this alive, _you _are the one coming up with excuses why Chad can't be in on the case and why you haven't caught anyone, _you_ are the one who looks guilty in this." Gabriella shook her head and took a step back, "Just stay away from me."

Gabriella turned and began walking down the street towards her office where her car was parked, not glancing back to see a pissed off Kevin turn and stalk down the street, or the dark figure that began to follow her.

* * *

There is a big difference between believing and knowing. When Gabriella was little, she believed her father was a good person, and as she grew up she found out that she knew he wasn't. When she was moving in grade school and high school, every time she unpacked, she believed it was the last time, but every time her mother would appear in her room with a plate full of brownies and a sad look on her face, she knew it wasn't. For the longest time, she believed she and Troy were going to spend the rest of their lives together, but she had about five close call proposals before he actually got down on one knee and pulled out her engagement ring, and it was then that she knew. Believing and knowing are two very different things. Believing she couldn't trust anyone was disappointing.

Knowing she couldn't trust anyone was overwhelming.

Gabriella was walking along the streets with tears in her eyes, her hands shoved in her purse as she dug for her keys. Her vision was blurred and all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and hide from the world, envision that Troy was there with her and Alex, the three of them the family that they had promised to be. No death, no separation, just the three of them.

Gabriella turned sharply when she heard a noise behind her, her blurry eyes scanning the empty street. She swore she just heard a noise behind her. She sniffled and reached up, wiping the tears from her eyes to see more clearly, backing up a step. If this was Kevin's way of getting back at her, he was messed up, of course, the fact that he was messed up was pretty low on the list of things she was pretty sure he did or had a hand in.

She backed up another step and spun around to hurry down the street the rest of the way to her car, only to run straight into someone. "Whoa," a voice laughed out, "what's the rush?"

Gabriella backed up quickly, glancing up at the guy and not recognizing him, oh no, this was bad. Gabriella turned back around and prepared to bolt in the other direction to find another guy smirking at her. "No hurry."

Gabriella fisted her keys, gripping tightly to them as she turned back to the guy in the direction of her car, hoping against hope this would work like it was supposed to. She lunged at him and brought her fist up, the man unprepared as her keys slammed into the side of his face and he ducked out of the way, long enough for Gabriella to dart past him, losing her heels in the process and running as fast as her feet would take her.

She didn't make it far, though, before she felt a hand grip her arm, and she let out a scream as she was dragged backwards into an alley, her back slammed up against the wall, and she sucked in a deep breath as the cool metal of a knife was pressed to her throat. "Behave," the man told her slowly, "and no one gets hurt." The guy she had hit with her keys ran up behind him and she took some satisfaction in the fact that she drew blood on the side of his face, "You alright?"

"Yeah," he responded, "dumb bitch caught me off guard."

The knife was pressed harder into her throat, "Wallet, keys, purse, I want everything." Gabriella immediately held out her purse and the guy snatched it up, handing it to the guy behind him, his eyes not moving off of Gabriella, "Where's your briefcase Mrs. Bolton?"

They knew who she was, they wanted her briefcase, "At my office." Gabriella said in a shaky voice, "I left it there."

"Hmm," he said slowly, "then I guess I'll settle for your wedding ring."

Gabriella's hand closed into a fist, "No, not that."

Gabriella gasped as she felt the knife cut into her throat and a hot tear burned down the side of her face, "I'm not so sure your kid would like a headless mommy." Oh god, Alex. Gabriella swallowed hard and could feel the pain of her decision as she loosened her hand to allow the man to pull the ring roughly from her finger. "Next time, mind your own business and this wouldn't be necessary."

"HEY!" The two looked over sharply as a flashlight was shined into the alley, obviously this wasn't part of the plan, "HEY, LET HER GO!"

Gabriella squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head to the side as she felt herself roughly tossed to the side and heard the quick footsteps of the two running away, mixed with other footsteps.

"Dear," Gabriella felt a cold hand on her face and looked up to see a middle aged woman leaning over her, "honey, are you alright, did they hurt you?" Gabriella looked all around, her mind running over any pains she had, "Oh dear, you're bleeding." The woman turned away, "John, _John_, call the police!"

Gabriella looked as she saw a middle aged man appear with a bat in his hand and her purse in the other, "I got one of them and he dropped this, but whatever the other man took, I didn't get, I'm sorry."

Gabriella couldn't even find the strength to speak, she merely accepted her purse and didn't move, the rest of the evening passing in a blur as the cops came, took her statement, promised her they'd do their best to find the ring, and bandaged her neck. Gabriella wasn't really sure how she got home, and she was glad that wherever Jack and Sarah were, they had Alex, because she just went straight to her room, curled up into a ball and began crying, the emotional day taking it's toll on her.

Somewhere throughout the night, she cried herself to sleep. She must have. Because only within the confines of sleep could Troy have slipped the ring back on her finger, wiped away her tears, and held her throughout the night.


	6. Not Crazy

**A/N:** *bites nails*

* * *

**Not Crazy**

Gabriella heard her bedroom door open and close several times before she actually had the strength to open her eyes. One time it had been Alex; he had come into her room and climbed into her bed, snuggling himself with her, thinking his mother had the day off and they were sleeping in. Another time had been Sarah who had come in and taken Alex from her bed. She wasn't sure how, but she was sure Sarah and Jack already knew about the attack the previous night, they always knew. And another time had been one of the two simply checking on her, neither one passing beyond the doorway.

She was coherent enough to wake up, but she had decided to keep her eyes shut, dealing with the world from within the confines of her bedroom. Her mind was sorting out a whole list of things, at the very top of that list being the pressure she currently felt on the third finger of her left hand. She knew it was her ring; she didn't have to open her eyes to figure that out, she just didn't know how it got there.

She had a couple of choices. One, yesterday had been one horrific nightmare, and Gabriella was going to wake up to find that court hadn't happened, she hadn't flipped out there, and she hadn't yelled at Chad. Two, someone had put the ring back on her finger. She wasn't sure what she wanted to believe, that that day hadn't actually happened yesterday, or that someone had entered her house, the house she believed to be safe, and left unbeknownst to her.

"She's been sleeping all day," Sarah's voice carried from outside the room, "her boss called and said she could take as much time off as she needed, but shouldn't we wake her, make her eat?"

"I don't know," Jack answered, "I think right now we should just keep watching Alex and keep him entertained so he doesn't think about her."

"I'm gonna call Taylor."

"She's at work."

"Chad?"

"Work."

"What was she even doing at that coffee shop?" Sarah asked, "Was she on a date?"

"You know that's none of our business." Jack said quickly, "It's Gabriella's life, she can do what she wants."

"But it is our business if doing what she wants almost gets our grandson orphaned!" Sarah responded.

"It doesn't matter, I don't think it was a date," Jack told her, "Gabriella won't even take off her wedding ring, I don't expect she feels its time to start looking for a new husband." Jack sighed, "She's a good mother, you know that."

Gabriella opened her eyes and glanced around the room, the sun was bright, and the day had long since started. She made the decision of where she needed to go instantly and threw back the covers while Jack and Sarah continued to talk.

"You heard Lexi," Sarah started, "she's _seeing_ Troy, maybe we should call that doctor that she left the number for. It can't hurt for Gabriella to talk to someone."

"I have to stand against you on this one, Sarah," Jack told her, "neither of us understands what it is like to lose a spouse. I can't imagine what she is going through right now, nor do I want to, but I feel if we start telling her we think she's crazy, she'll detach even more."

It took Gabriella maybe three minutes to pull a pair of black sweatpants and a white round neck tight shirt with three quarter sleeves out of her drawers and toss them on. She pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail and slid her feet into black flip flops as she listened to Jack and Sarah. Her purse was on the floor and she snatched it up before yanking open the door and storming out into the hallway, past Jack and Sarah.

Sarah immediately started following her, "Gabriella, where are you going?"

"I am not crazy." Gabriella bit out at the two parents as she thundered down the steps, heading towards the front door, "I know what I saw, and I am not crazy."

"We never said you were, honey," Sarah tried to reason, following her, "we're just worried after the attack last night, why didn't you call us?"

"Nothing happened," Gabriella told them, "the man chased them away; all they got was my wedding ring."

They had reached the main level and Sarah sent her a confused look, "Honey, you're still wearing your wedding ring."

Gabriella had pulled open the door and turned to look at her mother-in-law, "I know, its how I know I'm not crazy, something is up, and it's not in my head."

Sarah shook her head, "Gabriella, you are a logical person, _listen_ to yourself…you think Troy is alive?"

Gabriella sighed before shrugging her shoulders, "I don't know, but I do know that I don't know he's dead, and until I do, I'm not giving this up." Gabriella turned and walked through the doorway, "Watch Alex, I'll be back." And without another word, Gabriella slammed the door to her house.

* * *

Chad Danforth had always been a follower. Despite that he was an only child, and despite that he was very independent, he followed people. His status as number two had been cemented when he had met Troy Bolton, and even after Troy left his life, he still always felt like number two to him.

It was the little and big things in his life. It was the fact that their wives were best friends and Chad had only taken interest _after_ Troy had. It was the fact that their jobs were the same and Chad had only been interested _after_ Troy had told him that was what he liked. Troy had chosen LA, Chad had chosen LA. The only thing they varied on was that Chad tied the knot first, and that was because Troy practically forced him down on one knee.

It made him sound like an idiot. It made him seem like he didn't love Taylor or his job and that he didn't want to live in LA. That wasn't true; Chad did love Taylor more than anything. His job was the only thing he could see himself doing, and LA was where he was meant to be. But that was more coincidences then anything else.

He swore it would change, though. After Troy's death, he had sworn he would step up and find who did this and most definitely not give up until he did. But he didn't. He failed, and it was just now hitting him how much he had failed.

But it was way more then just finding the killer. That wasn't so much his fault that the FBI wasn't letting him in on the case, and although he could probably force his way in, getting fired from the FBI would most definitely not help matters, and Troy wouldn't want him doing that. No, instead it was Gabriella he had failed at, and Chad knew that if given the choice between saving Gabriella or finding his killer, Troy would always choose Gabriella. And it hadn't hit Chad until yesterday how much he had misjudged how well she was handling everything.

Gabriella was brilliant, as was Taylor, and Chad always had to realize that half of the time he had no idea what was going through their minds. But he considered himself good enough at reading them to gauge how she was doing, and he had thought she was doing well. As well as expected, at least. She wasn't losing sleep which meant she hadn't been having dreams or nightmares about him. She hadn't packed up all of his stuff the day after he died and pretended he didn't exist. And up until the day before, he hadn't heard about Gabriella seeing Troy walking out on the street.

Chad hadn't been lying; he _had_ seen Troy at first. He would be out playing basketball and miss a shot and Troy's cocky retort would come out of nowhere. Or he'd be running and suddenly Troy would be next to him. But there was a difference, Chad knew he wasn't real, Chad knew he was dead, and Chad knew he _wasn't _coming back. Obviously Gabriella didn't.

Chad had failed.

Chad collapsed onto the concrete of his basketball court in the backyard of his and Taylor's house. He was breathing heavily, and sweat coated his skin from the intense game of basketball he had just played with himself. Chad had called in and taken a personal day from work, Taylor had been reluctant to leave him after he told her what happened with Gabriella, but he had forced her to go, knowing that right now she was low man on the totem pole, and missing work was not a good thing.

He sighed into the empty air and picked up the ball, lifting it above his head and using it as a pillow. He needed to put a stop to this now before the wrong people heard Gabriella thinking she saw her dead husband walking around in the light of day. All it took was one pissed off coworker and Gabriella could be reported to child services, be disbarred, and any and all retributions that came with that. Chad knew that they would never let anything happen to Alex, if worse came to worse, they'd take him in, but just losing her son would be blow enough, and as fragile as her psyche seemed to be, Chad wasn't sure she'd recover if that happened.

Chad felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he immediately reached in to withdraw it, seeing Troy's mother's name flash up on the screen. He answered it without a moment's hesitation and lifted the phone to his ear, "Hello?"

"_Hi Chad,"_ the nervousness in her voice was easy to spot a mile away, _"I didn't want to bother you at work, but we should really talk."_

"I'm not at work." Chad told her, "I have the day off," the lie worked better then the truth, "what can I do for you?"

"_It's Gabriella,"_ Chad suspected it was and he immediately pushed up into a sitting position, phone still attached to his ear, _"last night, she apparently got mugged, and they didn't get away with anything," _she added quickly, _"and she wasn't seriously injured, but I'm really worried about her."_

"What?" Chad asked, "What do you mean by seriously injured, why didn't she call me? Why didn't you call me?"

"_We didn't find out until this morning." _Sarah informed him, _"We took Alex to a movie last night and when we got home, she was already asleep, and her boss called this morning to tell us that she was mugged and it was news to us."_

Chad was processing, "So, she wasn't hurt and nothing was taken?" Chad repeated, making sure he got everything right.

"_She got a cut on her neck from where they held her at knifepoint, and according to her, they didn't make off with anything other then her wedding ring."_

Chad shut his eyes and groaned, that was the one thing she did not need to get taken from her right now, "Crap, okay, I'll call the police, see if I can get the details on the ring, it had an inscription, I'm sure we can…"

"_I said according to _her_ they didn't make off with anything but the ring,"_ Sarah said slowly, _"when I went to pull Alex out of her bed this morning to give her time to rest, the ring was in its spot."_

"What?" Chad pushed up from his sitting position and stood up straight, stowing the ball under his arm, "So she filed a false police report?"

"_I don't even know if she filed a police report."_ Sarah admitted, _"Could you find out, because if they have a picture of her without her ring, or even have it documented that she didn't have her ring, then I would find it a whole lot easier to justify not calling a therapist right now."_

Oh crap, Troy's parents thought she had lost it. "Where is Gabriella?"

"_I don't know, she left, she told us she wasn't crazy, asked us to watch Alex and left."_

Chad sighed heavily, "Okay, just stay with Alex, I'll dig and see what I can find."

"_Just let me know, Jack and I are just worried."_

"Me too." Chad said softly, "I'll call you back." Chad hung up the phone without another word and took off towards the house, pulling open the back door and heading towards his office. His desk was a mess and he set the ball on top of a pile of papers as he began to dig for the name of his friend in the LAPD. He was paying no mind to the ball, and when he lifted up the file underneath it, the ball rolled off of the desk and onto the floor, bouncing out of the room a few times before stopping. Chad paid it no mind, having more pressing matters to deal with, but when the bouncing started again, Chad looked up curiously before turning around the direction of the dribbling.

He saw the ball picked up into one hand before the owner of that hand flicked it up on his finger, the ball spinning professionally on the tip. He wasn't even watching it, he was watching Chad, watching as Chad dropped the file that was in his hand, the contents spilling onto the floor, and watching as the cell phone he had been holding was also dropped onto the floor. His eyes had followed the phone until it settled before reconnecting with that of his best friend, blue and brown meeting in a way that they hadn't thought would ever happen again.

The ball stopped spinning and fell into Troy's hands as he blinked at his friend, "She's not crazy."

* * *

She knew what she needed to do. She had gone to the library, done some research, and after finding out that Chad had called in sick to work, she knew what she needed to do and as she pulled her car into Chad's driveway and put it into park, she was determined to get him on her side. She knew he'd be mad at her, hell, she was mad at herself for what she had said to him, whether or not she was in pain, she knew it was out of line, and she needed to apologize to him.

Gabriella grabbed Troy's file and the few papers she had accumulated before pushing open the car door and heading up the front walk. There was a 99% chance that Chad would slam the door in her face, but she needed to try.

Gabriella sighed and glanced down at the forms for a moment. It was the right thing to do. She knew that, and as long as she knew that, she'd be fine. Sighing heavily, she lifted up her hand and knocked firmly on the door, hoping he was awake or here, because she didn't want to wait any longer.

She heard footsteps and she gripped the file tightly when she heard the lock slide out of place moments before the door swung open to reveal Chad clad in a white wife beater and black workout shorts, a smile on his face that was riddled with nervousness, "Gabriella," he said in a voice that seemed higher then his, "what are you doing here?"

Gabriella inhaled deeply, "I know you're mad at me," she started, "I'm mad at myself, I know Troy's way more to you then just a friend. Taylor and I are fairly certain that if we hadn't come into the picture that you two would've just become lovers, and I know you love him," she added quickly when Chad went to interrupt, "maybe not the way I did, but that doesn't mean you loved him less, and it was wrong of me to say that you didn't understand what it was like."

Chad shook his head, "Gabs, it's fine, I understand."

Gabriella launched herself forward and hugged him tightly around his torso, "Oh thank you, I know I don't deserve it, but thank you so much."

Chad shook his head, "It's not a big deal, but I'm kinda in the middle…"

"There's more," Gabriella added quickly as she pulled away from him and stormed into the house, "I know everyone thinks I'm crazy and I'm beginning to think it too."

Chad shut the front door and turned to face her where she had stopped in the foyer, her back to the living room, "Yes Gabriella, please come in."

Gabriella ignored him, "There's only one way to put my mind to rest, and I really need you behind me because I know Jack and Sarah are going to hate me for it." She shoved the papers and file into his hands and Chad took them, scanning the top one quickly.

Chad blinked and looked up at her, but Gabriella was surprised at the fact that he neither seemed confused, surprised, or disgusted at the idea, "An exhumation form?" Chad asked, "You want to exhume Troy's body?"

"I know it won't look like him," Gabriella said quickly, "but the doctors said he was so burnt that he was unrecognizable anyways, so it really doesn't matter. I want a DNA test, and I want the right people to do it, which is where you come in, because I don't know who the right people are." Gabriella pointed to the file, "And that's Troy's file, I got it for you." She clasped her hands together and was shifting on the balls of her feet, "And me." She added quickly, "75% me, 25% you." She amended and Chad smiled, "And you're gonna find what I found, that there's a lot of holes in there, and I think I made a mistake, because I pointed out to Kevin that there were a lot of holes in the file when I met with him for coffee last night."

This was the first comment that got a response out of Chad, his eyes widening and his face turning angry, "You met with him for coffee?" Gabriella nodded meekly, "Damnit Gabriella, _what_ did I tell you about him?"

"I know."

"And you conveniently got attacked after telling him everything he got wrong?" Chad asked.

Gabriella blinked, "Uh…yeah…but it wasn't Kevin, and they weren't gonna kill me, they just wanted my purse."

"You didn't know that," Chad pointed out, "and it was stupid of you to go there alone. What is it with you two girls?" he asked rhetorically, "Do you think I tell you these things because I think it's funny to make you stay away from people? He's a threat, and now he knows you're a threat."

"I'm going to call Don." Gabriella said firmly, speaking of his boss, "I'm going to have Kevin taken off of the case, that's my right as his widow, right? I can say who's on and off the case?"

"Probably not." Chad told her.

Gabriella shook her head, "That doesn't matter, because I _do_ have the right to exhume his body, and if it's not him, then he's not dead."

"I would prefer if you did not exhume my body."

Gabriella's eyes fluttered at Troy's voice, but she didn't turn, and Chad quirked an eyebrow when she didn't, "I need to know you're with me." She told Chad, her face remaining even, pretending as though she hadn't just heard her possibly dead husband's voice behind her.

Chad sent her a look before his eyes moved behind Gabriella's head, "No, we're not exhuming his body."

Gabriella sucked in a shaky breath, "Chad, I need to do this for me, I have to know he's dead."

Chad shook his head, "No, we're not exhuming his body because it's unnecessary, I know he's alive."

Gabriella smiled and let out a relieved sigh, "I know, right? It's like, I always felt like I would know when he was dead, and I just never felt it, and then the laptop…"

"You have Troy's laptop?" Chad questioned.

Gabriella made a face, "Yeah, sorry about that, I wasn't ready to part with it. But he left me a video on there and it was only done a year ago, and that's not possible, and I found the T shaped necklace at the courthouse, and I am not crazy," she held up her left hand, "someone put the freaking wedding ring back on my hand."

Chad nodded, "I think you're right, and I think I know the perfect place to start looking." Chad walked past her and Gabriella turned to watch him anxiously, her eyes widening as she took in the third person in the room. Chad stopped next to him and looked back at Gabriella, "Oh look, I found him!"

Gabriella was in shock. There was no other emotion to describe what she was feeling as her eyes scanned over the face of her husband. He looked older, more then just a year and a half older, his skin was tanned, looking like he had spent a lot of time out in the sun this summer, his hair was longer and the color was lighter then she remembered, probably also from the sun. He had a slight stubble on his chin, and his clothes looked disheveled, like he was trying to fit in with everyone donning a pair of medium washed jeans and a black t-shirt, and he probably was. She had been sure he wasn't dead, her brain, heart, and soul were behind it, she was prepared to fight and free him from whatever was keeping him away from them or die trying. But she just hadn't been prepared for it to be so soon.

His eyes were wide, the same ultra blue they had always been, taking her in, reading her every sign, and revealing everything about himself in the process. As if she needed them to. His hands shoved into his pockets and his emotionless face gave away all of his nervousness.

"Oh look," Chad repeated, "I found him!"

"She heard you." Troy mumbled out, "She's just trying to figure out whether this is a dream or not."

Gabriella opened her mouth and a mixture between a gasp and a sob came out, her eyes were wide and she didn't exactly make the conscious decision to move her feet, but suddenly she was walking forward towards him, positive this couldn't be real.

Troy swallowed hard and glanced over at Chad nervously, removing his hands from his pockets, "I, um," he paused, "you should know Chad and Taylor didn't know, no one knew." Troy looked down as Gabriella stopped in front of him and watched carefully as she raised her hand slowly, "It's really a long story," he continued, "but you'll understand, I know…you…will…" he trailed off as Gabriella set her hand on his cheek, touching his soft skin, needing to feel it to believe he was real.

She released a shaky breath and Troy watched her carefully as her other hand came up to rest on the side of his neck. He half expected her to strangle him, run away screaming, faint, something, but whatever it was he expected her to do, it was most definitely not lean up onto her tiptoes and press her lips to his. He was shocked. He was beyond shocked. His eyebrows shot up in surprise as he immediately responded to her kiss, opening his mouth as she probed it with her tongue. The kiss was short and when they broke apart for air Troy heard her sob, but she reconnected their lips, Troy able to taste the saltiness of her tears in the kiss.

Troy went to pull back but she did it first and he didn't even get the chance to open his eyes before he felt her hand come into contact with his cheek, the force of the slap sending his head sideways. Gabriella released a sob and her hand formed a fist to hit him again, but Chad intervened grabbing her by the waist and pulling her back as she swung at Troy, "How could you?" she screamed out, her voice full of tears, "How could you leave us?"

"Take it easy, Gabriella," Chad told her, "calm down."

Gabriella struggled and pushed against Chad, Chad losing his grip and having Gabriella break free before losing her footing and falling down onto the carpet. Both Troy and Chad's immediate response was to help her, however, when they took steps forward she slid back away from them, "Don't touch me!" Gabriella said harshly as she clambered back onto her feet and started backing towards the door, "You are such a liar," she told Chad, "made me believe you were hurting over this, watched me cry when all along you knew he was alive!"

"No," Troy said quickly, taking a step forward, "he did not know, he found out maybe an hour before you got here." Troy gestured to him, "This is not his fault, it's a long story, and I will tell you, I promise," Troy motioned towards the living room, "but you should sit down." Gabriella, who had reached the front door, paused to stare at Troy, as though he had just said something highly offensive to her. Troy glanced nervously over at Chad, "You should not be driving like this."

Gabriella turned and began marching towards Troy, her face set in stone, "How dare you tell me what I should and should not do?"

Troy held up both of his hands, "Gabi…"

"How _dare_ you!" she punctuated her statement by shoving Troy as hard as she could, receiving little resistance from Troy and causing his back to hit the wall. Chad made a move to intervene, but Troy stopped him with a look, "You _abandon_ your wife and child and you think you can just come back into our lives whenever you want?"

"Please," Troy pleaded, "just listen…"

"NO, I WILL NOT LISTEN!" Gabriella screamed at him, the tears that had been brimming in her eyes finally spilling over onto her cheeks, "You are a bastard, you are _not_ the man I married, and…and…" Any chance of keeping her composure was thrown out the window as her chin began to quiver, but she didn't care. She would not break down in front of him, he did _not_ deserve it. "You know what?" she asked rhetorically, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down, "Everyone said I'd end up in this trap, _everyone_ warned me that I'd end up with a guy like him, but I _never_ thought you'd turn out to be like my father."

Her words hit him like a ton of bricks, and anything he had planned on saying never made it past the lump in his throat. Gabriella turned swiftly on her heel, barging back towards the door, intent on getting out as fast as she could, "Congratulations Troy," Gabriella continued sarcastically, yanking open the door, "you proved me wrong."

Troy inhaled deeply, feeling the stab of her words, "Wait!"

Gabriella's response came in the form of a slamming door.

* * *

**A/N:** *still biting nails*


	7. In This

**In This**

Gabriella used to think that pain was a very set in stone thing. When she was little and she fell and skinned her knee, that hurt, that was pain. Her mother would clean out the cut, put on a colorful bandaid, kiss it, and it would all be better. And for eleven years, that was what pain was. Then her father beat her. After that she was introduced to a new kind of pain. While the physical pain she endured was excruciating, it was nothing like the hurt of the pain inflicted by the mere fact that it was her father.

In the love department, that was where Gabriella was actually prepared to endure the most pain. Having dealt with her own parent's divorce, she had just expected it to be hard, expected to have to look high and low, date a lot of losers, and suffer through a lot of heartbreak before finding the right person. She hadn't, though. In fact, she had found him almost immediately. But, in finding him she had experienced another kind of pain, an unexpected kind. A pain revolving around how much she loved him and never wanted to be apart from him. A pain that made the distance they endured for two years almost unbearable.

The third definition of pain had been the one Gabriella expected to be the last she would learn: childbirth. Gabriella had never been in such intense pain in her life; she had never wanted to give up halfway through something so badly before that came along. It was hard, nearly impossible, but rewarding, because any tearing, crying, bleeding, and anything was worth it when she heard her baby cry for the first time.

It was then that she learned that pain was an extremely complex and ever changing experience. No two moments were exactly alike, and they never would be. But she had assumed that any further complex pain would revolve around Alex and watching him grow up, never Troy.

She was struggling. Curled up into a ball on top of her bed, her knees were tucked into under her chin, and her eyes were wide. There was a wet spot on the comforter where her tears had fallen, but her eyes were all cried out. All she had been doing for the last few hours was thinking, and she was struggling. Struggling with how she could be so happy and so sad at the same time.

When she had envisioned that Troy was still alive, she had imagined him being held captive by Anthony Salinas, working under gunpoint somewhere, and his sudden reappearances were cries for help. She was prepared to dress in all black, break into some government offices and free him. She was prepared to hear him say how he had been trying to get back to her every day but had been unable too.

She wasn't prepared to see that he had free will and chosen to stay away from her, away from Alex.

It pissed her off, to say the least. He had missed many moments of Alex's life he could never get back. He had broken her heart. He had made her face the cruel world by herself when he promised he would always be there for her. He had made her lie to their son, break _his _heart. How would he understand that his father, who was supposed to be dead, wasn't?

But at the same time, she was so unbelievably happy. He wasn't dead. He hadn't been shot and killed, she no longer had to face the world alone, and they could explain to everyone together that he wasn't dead.

Gabriella's eyes snapped up as she heard her door open. She saw it swing open just a little bit before closing, no person coming into view over the top of her bed. She paused and a small smile worked its way onto her face as she heard the quiet sound effects of a car attached to a two year old.

"Vroom!" Gabriella's smile widened a little more as the car appeared on top of the bed and Alex's curious blue eyes peered over, smiling when he found his mother awake, "Momma!" Alex pushed himself on top of the bed and crawled over to her, flinging his arms around her neck as Gabriella brought her arms around his tiny frame. "Grandma said you were sad, are you happy now?"

Gabriella pulled back and kissed Alex's cheek, "I am now that you are here. Did you have a fun day with grandma and grandpa?"

Alex nodded his head, "Mmhmm, we went to the park, and played on the swings, and grandpa put me on his shoulders and I was _really_ tall momma."

Gabriella fake gasped, "No way?"

Alex nodded, "Yeah huh!" Alex held up his car, "Wanna play cars?"

Gabriella smiled, "Every time we play cars, momma has to be the road."

"But you're a pretty road!" Alex said with as wide of a grin as he could muster.

Gabriella laughed, shaking her head, "Oh you are most definitely your father's son." She rolled her eyes and held out her hand, Alex jumped up onto his knees and begun running the car up her arm, turning and swerving as it almost fell off, lost in his own little imagination. Gabriella watched him for a moment before turning her eyes to the doors across the room that led to the balcony attached to Gabriella's bedroom.

It had been one of the deciding factors of the house when Troy and Gabriella had bought it. Their fondness for balconies overshadowing any other features any other house had, and while she didn't use it much, it was nice to have. She could get up in the morning and check the weather; she could open the doors to let a nice breeze in; her formerly dead husband could sit on there and watch her through the windows until she let him in. It hadn't been long after she had gotten home and started crying that Troy had shown up outside. She had heard him, he had known she had heard him, but she made no move to let him in, and he made no move to come in.

Her eyes immediately locked with his through the glass of the door and she could see the sadness etched in his features. Partially at how broken she looked, but probably also at their son, who was using his mother's body as a roadmap, who didn't know him. Part of her wanted to be like _'Good, you left us, feel the pain of not having him know you, you don't deserve a son as wonderful as he is.'_ But the bigger part of her couldn't fathom _ever _leaving Alex, and while she suspected he did it to protect them, she couldn't imagine how unbelievably hard it must have been for him.

Gabriella pushed up from her fetal position and stretched her legs out on the bed, Alex not missing a beat zoomed down the length of her leg, only interrupted when Gabriella grasped his waist and lifted him up, "Come here, you."

Alex looked at his mother curiously as she scooted off of the bed and moved him to her hip, "Where are we going?"

Gabriella moved over to the balcony doors and unlocked them, Troy watching her through the glass as she pulled the door open and stepped aside. She didn't say anything, just simply nodded her head in the direction of the room, indicating for him to come inside. He hesitated, at first, continuing to sit against the ledge of the balcony before hopping up and practically jumping inside, Gabriella shutting the door behind him.

Once the door was shut, Gabriella turned towards the dresser and snatched a picture off of the top of it, holding it in front of Alex. She glanced up at Troy for a moment before looking over at Alex who had a puzzled look on his face. "Alex," Gabriella started, "do you know who this is?" Troy wanted to hear him speak, Gabriella knew he wanted to hear him speak, and slight disappointment flashed over his features when Alex simply shook his head. Gabriella gripped onto the picture with the hand of the arm she was holding Alex with, and took a hold of his with the other, "Mom," Gabriella pointed to herself before moving it to Alex, "Alex,"

Alex pointed up at Troy, "Dad!"

The happiness that washed over Troy's features was similar to what she remembered the first time he had held Alex. In that moment nothing else mattered. In that moment, hearing him exclaim 'dad', was as close to perfect that he had gotten in a long time.

Gabriella nodded, "Yes, dad."

"But you left!" Alex turned his head to Gabriella, "'Member? Momma said you left!"

"S-she thought I was." Troy told him, "I was supposed to leave, but I just wasn't ready to leave you guys yet."

Alex tucked his head in Gabriella's neck, and Gabriella wondered how much he really understood, "Are you gonna leave again?"

Troy shook his head, "No," Gabriella chewed on her bottom lip as she heard the tears in his voice, "I'll never leave you guys again." Troy wanted to reach out and take him, but he pulled back, knowing Alex didn't know him and that Gabriella was probably still very angry with him. Gabriella leaned towards Troy and swung Alex his way, Alex taking the hint reached out for Troy, who took him and moved him to his own hip, wrapping his arms around the little boy and hugging him tightly. "I missed you Alex," he said before he pressed a kiss to his temple, "I missed you so much."

"Me too, dad."

Troy wasn't sure if he meant it. In fact, he was positive he didn't even have the slightest memory involving him, but he'd take it for what it was worth, because the past year and a half had killed his heart and he was ready to rebuild the family he had torn apart.

* * *

"Momma, where did dad go?"

Gabriella looked up from the book she had been reading to Alex, taking in the curious gaze of her son who was tucked beneath the covers of his bed, clad in Batman pajamas, his hair still damp from the bath he had recently taken, and his trusty teddy bear tucked under one arm. Gabriella had been waiting for the onslaught of questions to come, giving Alex the chance to process what he could before he launched into it full force.

The evening had been interesting, not that Troy really expected it to be normal. Once Gabriella had come down the stairs, Sarah and Jack had greeted her and she had apologized for the way she acted, but anything else she had said had fallen deaf on the two parent's ears when Troy had walked down the stairs with Alex in his arms.

No yelling had occurred. Sarah had insisted upon making dinner and disappeared into the kitchen while Jack made an excuse to help her. Dinner had been quiet, most of the talking coming from Alex's babbling, was fascinated by Troy, who had missed the last year and half of his life. Once dinner was over, Gabriella had swept Alex upstairs and she had turned on the water for his bath just in time to drown out the yelling from downstairs.

Gabriella shook her head, "I don't know, baby."

Alex sniffled, "Do ya think he missed us?"

Gabriella gave him a soft smile as she closed the book and leaned forward, tapping his nose with her finger, "I _know_ he missed you, your daddy loves you very much."

Alex smiled at his mother, "I love you momma."

"I love you too, baby." Gabriella told him, giving him a quick kiss before pulling back, "Time for bed." There were a few more protests from Alex, but Gabriella prevailed, the tiny boy's eyes eventually beginning to droop and Gabriella shut off the light to allow the little boy to sleep. She stepped out into the hallway and shut the door quietly behind her. The house was silent and she wasn't sure if Sarah and Troy had taken their yelling outside or if the storm was over.

She walked down the stairs noiselessly and glanced around the empty living room, turning her head when she heard voices inside the dining room. She walked through the threshold to find Troy and his parents sitting at the table, Sarah and Jack on one side, Troy across from them. They all looked over when she came into view and their conversation immediately stopped.

Gabriella teetered on the balls of her feet as Troy looked down at the table and Sarah and Jack exchanged a look, "Did Alex fall asleep alright?" Jack asked, interrupting the silence.

Gabriella nodded, "I only had to check twice for monsters."

Sarah held up the phone, "Your boss called again, you should probably call her back, she sounds worried."

Gabriella nodded and walked into the room taking the empty chair next to Troy as she grabbed the phone from Sarah, Gabriella scooted the chair slightly away from Troy, who looked back down to hide the hurt that flashed across his face. Gabriella lifted the receiver to her ear and waited patiently until her boss' voice filled her ears, _"Lexi Kendal."_

"Lexi," Gabriella said into the phone, "hey, it's Gabriella."

"_Gabriella!"_ Lexi exclaimed, _"Oh my god, where have you been? The cops called about the attack, are you okay?"_

Gabriella nodded despite that she couldn't see, "Yeah, I'm fine." She reached up and touched the bandage on her neck, "Just a little cut, someone chased them away before they could make off with anything."

Gabriella heard her release a breath, _"Good, I was so worried, and then every time I called that woman answered…"_

"That's my mother-in-law," Gabriella told her, "and sorry, I was just exhausted and wanted to rest."

"_No, it's perfectly fine, I just want you to stay at home and rest again tomorrow."_

"No, no, no," Gabriella said quickly, "it's pertinent that I get back to work as soon as I can, I need to get my mind focused back on things." Troy looked down hearing her words perfectly, she didn't want to stay home where he was.

Lexi paused, _"I don't know Gabriella…"_

"It's not like I'm going to be in court." Gabriella told her, "Just clerical work, I can do clerical work asleep."

Lexi sighed and Gabriella knew she had won, _"Have you had a chance to review Troy's file?"_

Gabriella smiled, the first time she had in a few days, "Thank you Lexi, for not treating me like I'm crazy."

"_I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about you looking into this," _she said quickly, _"but I know that you're going to do it one way or another, and I'd rather have it be with me then by yourself."_ Gabriella understood and she was thankful for having such a caring boss, _"But I was more asking because you had dinner with Kevin McDaniels last night."_

Gabriella blanched a bit, "How did you find out about that?"

"_Kevin stopped by the office today looking for you, said you were upset when you stormed off last night, he wanted to make sure you were okay."_ Lexi made a noise of disgust, _"The guy's a slimeball, but I wanted to know, because if you had read the file, you would have had a lot of questions."_

Gabriella nodded, "Yes, a lot of questions he didn't answer."

"_Gabriella, I'll pursue this, because I believe a lot of people have a lot of things to answer for, but you have to promise me something."_ Lexi stipulated, _"You have to tell me that you realize we're trying to find Troy's killer, not Troy. I love you sweetie, but he's dead."_

"Yep, got it," Gabriella said turning her head to look at Troy, "he's dead."

Troy looked up and the two linked eyes for a moment as Lexi continued, _"Okay, I'll do some digging and I'll see you tomorrow."_

There was a brief exchange of goodbyes before Gabriella hung up the phone and set it on the table, "Is everything alright with work?" Sarah asked.

Gabriella nodded, "Yeah, I just think I scared a few people with my actions the other day."

Troy scratched the top of his head, "Yeah, that didn't go the way I expected it to."

"How did you expect to tell your wife you weren't dead?" Sarah asked, the edge in her voice showing that she was obviously still upset.

"Not so soon." Troy answered honestly, "It wasn't supposed to be until after we had captured Salinas, but she decided to start investigating my death herself and in doing so pissed the wrong people off and focused their attention back on her."

Gabriella looked over at Troy sharply, "What do you mean focused their attention back on me?"

Troy looked down but didn't look at her, "Well, they were focused on you following my death, sure that I had told you something, but with time they moved on, now they're back on you."

Gabriella's eyes were wide and she began looking around franticly, "Oh my god, Alex!"

"Gabriella, he's fine," he assured her, "I said their attention was on you, they have a large attention span, don't take this the wrong way, but as of yet, you're just a blip on their radar, they don't think you really know anything."

"Who is 'they'?" Sarah asked.

Troy leaned forward, resting his forearms against the table top, laying his palms flat on the surface, "I can't tell you."

Sarah tilted her head, "What? Troy, you don't even work for the FBI anymore."

Troy pursed his lips, "Let me rephrase that, I'm not going to tell you," he amended, "not yet, at least."

Sarah shook her head with a confused look on her face, "Why?"

"Because as of right now, you're my visiting parents who know nothing." Troy told them, "And when you leave to go back to Albuquerque, they're not going to follow you. Gabriella doesn't have a choice in the matter, you do."

"Why don't I have a choice in the matter?" Gabriella asked, "Why can't I just get up and walk away?" Troy looked down and she saw pain flash across his face, and she felt cruel for doing it, but it had been what she had intended to do.

"Because," Troy started, "you decided to go out on a dinner date with Kevin McDaniels."

Sarah and Jack's attention moved to her as Gabriella immediately opened her mouth, "It wasn't a…"

"You went out to dinner with Kevin?" Sarah asked, "Chad told you to stay away from him!"

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Look, I know the guy's a prick, but it was just coffee, and I was just questioning the holes in Troy's murder investigation file."

"The guy's not just a prick, Gabriella," Troy told her, "and Chad was right to not trust him."

"Was he right to think you were dead too?" Gabriella snapped, "How about me?" her voice broke, "Was I right to think my husband wouldn't just abandon me and his child?"

Gabriella stood up and stormed out of the dining room, Troy pausing before he pushed up and took off after her, "If you'd just let me explain…" Troy started as he followed her out of the room.

"I don't want to hear your explanations." Gabriella bit back.

"There is more to this then you understand." Troy grabbed her elbow and she spun around pushing him as hard as she could, his back hitting the wall.

"No," Gabriella said forcibly, "there is more to _this_ then you understand. Do _not_ think that you can just walk back into our lives and everything is better." Gabriella took a step back and turned towards the stairs, "Just stay away from me Troy," she said as she ascended the stairs, tears laced in her voice, "just stay away."

Troy watched her walk up the stairs and yank open the bedroom door. He opened his mouth to say more, but Gabriella quickly cut it off with the sound of the door slamming, leaving only the echo from the noise and silence to surround Troy.


	8. Where Have You Been?

**A/N:** So...I was gonna post this tomorrow to celebrate Zachary's 22nd birthday, but, everyone will be updating tomorrow, and there's about a 97% chance that I'd get so caught up in reading the updates that I'd forget to update...so...here. :D

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**Where Have You Been?**

He wouldn't leave. And Gabriella knew he wouldn't leave. She could yell at him, scream at him, say hurtful words, punch him, hit him, and he still wouldn't leave. They had a son together and she was his wife, even if she divorced him, he would still loved her, no time apart would change that, and no piece of paper would tell him that. He'd give her a divorce because he only wanted her happy, but he wouldn't leave.

He had never left.

But Gabriella didn't know that. Gabriella didn't know a lot of things. She didn't know the events surrounding specifically why he had gotten called into work that day. She didn't know that he had walked into a trap that day. She knew he had gotten shot, but she didn't know who had shot him, and really she didn't know why.

But beyond that, there was a year and a half of his life she didn't know about. A year and a half he had been gone, somewhere else, missing Alex's many moments that, even if they had been caught on camera, could never be replaced, and it didn't matter where he had been, all that mattered was that he hadn't been there.

Except he had been there.

Gabriella didn't know it, of course. She didn't know he was alive, it was out of the question to let her know he was around, but he had been. He had followed her to work, followed her to dropping off Alex. He switched off days where he would watch Alex and watch her, he watched them at home, and all of the milestones in Alex's life; yes, he hadn't been _right_ there, but he had been there, and while it didn't make up for it, it made his heart ache a little less at night.

He just needed the chance to explain it to her. He knew she'd understand, Gabriella was logical, she'd give absolutely anything and everything to protect their son, and that was what Troy had done. Once she saw that and heard his story, she'd understand. Or at least he hoped she would.

Troy's parents had retired to bed not long after Gabriella had disappeared upstairs. Troy's father seemed genuinely okay with it, just happy to have his son back, and Troy's mother, while upset right now, was just having issues accepting it immediately, and would be fine in the morning. Troy had mulled around the house for a while. Examining random pictures, putting away a few toys that had been left out by Alex, walking around the house and securing various locks Gabriella had always forgotten to check and he had used to get into the house, before he decided to try sleeping. At first, he had been pretty sure sleep wouldn't be possible, but it had been made possible when he had been walking past Gabriella's room and found a pile of clothes, consisting of a fresh pair of boxers, t-shirt, and pajama pants.

He had settled on the couch, not really sure if taking the other bedroom upstairs would be appropriate given that he was 'in trouble' and he just got used to the fact that when people were in trouble they slept on the couch. He was lying on his side, the blanket he had grabbed was pulled up to his waist and one of his arms was resting above his head, eyes closed, even breathing. The house was completely silent, which was good, because if it wasn't, Troy _never_ would've been able to fall asleep. Troy did hear a rumble off in the distance though: a storm was coming.

"How long do you want me to pretend you aren't there?" his words were soft, but in an otherwise quiet house, they were relatively loud.

Gabriella jarred at his words, obviously not realizing he was awake as she sat on the carpet in front of the couch, her knees pulled up to her chin with her arms encircling them. She had been there for almost half an hour and Troy had gone through the motions of pretending he was asleep, using the training he had received before he became an FBI agent as well as the training he had received after he had 'died', wanting to give Gabriella the chance to talk first, but she hadn't. She had sat there, motionless and silent.

"Because I can do this all night," Troy continued, "but you need sleep."

"How long have you been awake?" Gabriella asked quietly.

Troy opened his eyes slowly, immediately finding Gabriella and linking eyes with her in the dark, "I never really went to sleep; I probably haven't really slept in a long time."

"Guilty conscious?" Gabriella asked, and he could hear the edge in her voice.

"No." Troy said immediately, "My conscious knew I was doing the right thing," Gabriella rolled her eyes, "I just couldn't sleep and watch over you at the same time, so I chose to watch over you."

"Why didn't you just _choose_ to stay?" Gabriella asked, "If you were here all along, watching us through windows and entering the house when you felt like it, why didn't you just stay?"

"Because I couldn't just stay," Troy told her, "because someone had tried to kill me and they weren't going to stop with me."

Troy pushed up and Gabriella saw him push the blanket to the side as he swung his legs off of the couch and moved to sit on the carpet in front of Gabriella, "What does that even mean?"

Troy fell with a soft thump onto the carpet, "It means," he started, "that to beat them, I have to play their game."

Gabriella blinked, "So, what, you work for Salinas now? Is that what you're telling me?"

"No," Troy told her, "but I considered it. However, working for Salinas requires telling him I'm alive, and that sort of ruins the whole element of surprise I have going for me."

"Then who do you work for?" Her voice was even and her face was passive. He knew she was curious, but she was purposely pushing to show no emotion.

"I work for myself," he told her, "there are people I work _with_, but I do this for myself."

She glanced down, "So, the other night you were following me…"

Troy nodded, "I was, and I was two seconds behind that couple. I would've stayed, I was planning on staying and just doing it there," he looked down and even in the darkness Gabriella could tell he was playing with the ring on his left hand, "but then I saw what the guy took, so I got it back."

Gabriella blinked, "So you're just a vigilante now? Killing people as you deem fit?"

His brow furrowed, still not looking at her, "I don't know if vigilante is the right word," Troy said, "because I'm not doing it because I don't think the cops will eventually figure everything out, I'm doing it for revenge."

"Revenge." Gabriella repeated with a sad laugh escaping her lips, "Revenge? How can you be doing this for revenge, my Troy would have _never_ broken the law like that just for revenge."

"Yes, well, your Troy was shot," Troy told her firmly, "twice, actually, and had to abandon his wife and child for their safety, and watch through windows when his son learned to walk and talk." His voice was laced with bitterness and she couldn't ignore it even if she tried, "Your Troy was naïve and believed exactly what was fed to him, and he was burned when one of the people supposed to keep him alive, turned on him."

Gabriella swallowed, taking in what he was telling her, "You were shot?"

Troy nodded, "Once in the shoulder," he motioned to his right shoulder, "once in the stomach." He blew out a breath, "I was getting too close, they were getting nervous, I needed to be taken care of, they just didn't make sure I was dead after they shot me." He paused and Gabriella didn't speak, a sign that she wanted him to continue, "It is a really long story, and most of the details are insignificant, I managed to crawl out of the building before it exploded, but I was still severely injured, and that was when they found me."

"Some of them are former cops, some of them are lawyers, doctors, some of them are just family members who lost a loved one." Troy told her, "They saved my life, but it was still a very painful and long recovery, I couldn't exactly go to the hospital, and they didn't have sterilized rooms, got a couple infections, almost died a couple more times. It was a good four months before I was completely better, and that was when I started watching you."

Gabriella looked up, "So this entire time you've been here and you've just never done anything?"

"Define 'do anything'?" Troy asked, "I was here, I was watching, I was protecting, I was doing any and everything I could to be there…"

"Except be here!" Gabriella said a little louder then she meant to, "Why couldn't you have told me? I would've understood!"

"But you couldn't have kept it." Troy told her simply, "I could barely keep it." Her exterior had broken multiple times the past few meetings, but his had remained hardened and convincing, begging and pleading with her to understand him, but now it was breaking and she could hear the sadness in his voice, "You have no idea how hard it was for me to just watch, to take a step back while Alex grew up, every single night you cried yourself to sleep. I could only watch, I could never do anything, but it had to be that way. Because I wasn't sure how long I'd have to wait before returning, before they weren't watching and I would no longer put you in danger."

"Who?" Gabriella asked quietly.

Troy looked down, "Think about it," he started, "people don't magically walk away from an explosion unscathed." He looked back up, "Not without seeing who shot the third person of their group."

She had known it, deep down, she had known Kevin was involved. She had just hoped it would turn out to be someone with less power, someone they hadn't trusted, someone who wasn't currently leading the investigation on not just Troy's death but also the Salinas family, "Kevin."

"He's not just a prick." Troy repeated his words from earlier, "You can hate me, but just stay away from him."

Gabriella brought her hand up and covered her face with it, Troy could tell she was crying and he felt his heart tug at the sight. He almost moved to comfort her when she let out a noise that was mixed between a yell and a cry, "We trusted him!" she said in a tearful voice, "He was supposed to find your killer, not _be_ your killer."

Troy shook his head, "He has everyone fooled." he sighed, "I had no clue until I had a gun pointed at me."

Gabriella dropped her arms to her sides and tilted her head at Troy, her eyes brimming with tears, "I don't hate you…"

Troy acted instinctively, pushing up from his position and Gabriella did the same, the two met in the middle as Troy wrapped his arms around her, Gabriella burying her head in his shoulder as her body shook from silent sobs. "I didn't want to leave you," Troy told her, "you have to know I didn't _want_ to leave you."

Gabriella nodded her head into his shoulder, "I do…I just…I was so mad."

His hand had come up and intertwined in her hair as he buried his face in it, letting his nostrils fill with her scent, "It's okay, it's okay to be mad at me, I'm mad at myself."

Gabriella sucked in a shaky breath, "So does this mean you can come back now?" she pulled back slightly and looked up at him, "You can stay?"

"I wasn't lying to Alex," Troy told her, "I'm not leaving," Gabriella began to smile, "but I can't be alive yet, not legally at least."

Gabriella blinked a few times before reconnecting her eyes, "What happens now?"

"Nothing." Troy told her, "You have to act like nothing's different, you have to pretend that you don't know who killed me, and that you're still determined to find out who did," Troy put his finger under her chin and lifted it up, "and you need to pretend that Kevin is just another FBI agent."

Gabriella shook her head, "I can't do that…"

"You have to," Troy told her, "he can't get suspicious, not yet, especially not about your involvement. We know a lot of who is involved with them, but we don't know the extent of it; you can't trust everyone you think you trust."

"I don't trust anyone," Gabriella told him, "I didn't even show Chad and Taylor that I still had your laptop."

Troy smiled slightly, "Them you can trust." Gabriella felt the corners of her mouth turn upwards slightly, her eyes moving down to his lips briefly before looking back up into his eyes and repeating as she moved in closer, "Are you gonna hit me this time?" Troy whispered.

Gabriella shook her head, "I'm sorry I said you were like my father, you aren't, I was just…"

"Angry?" Troy finished, "It's okay, I understand, I'd be beyond pissed had the roles been reversed, no matter the excuse."

Gabriella shook her head, "No…I purposely used that to hurt you…that was wrong."

"It's okay," Troy told her, "really, you should most definitely not be the one apologizing."

"Let's neither of us apologize." Troy let his eyes fall shut as he felt Gabriella press her mouth up against his. Almost immediately this kiss was different from the other one, her lips were soft as opposed to fierce and there was love as opposed to betrayal behind the kisses. Her hands moved up and she gripped his head, opening her mouth to allow his tongue access, tilting her head to achieve a better angle. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she felt a tear slip down her cheek, surprising both her and Troy.

Troy pulled back and was staring at her curiously as Gabriella looked up at him, "What is it?"

He reached up and wiped the tear from her cheek, Gabriella sniffling, "I don't know," she shook her head, "I just never thought I'd kiss you again."

Troy smiled, a small laugh escaping his lips, "I'm sorry you had to think that, but I promise, it's not true." Gabriella smiled full out and it was something Troy hadn't seen in the absence of Alex in a long time. He leaned forward and kissed her this time, Gabriella immediately responding hungrily, her tongue dueling with his for control. Troy smiled into the kiss, his hands moving from her waist where they had fallen to cup either side of her face, "I missed you so much." He mumbled against her lips.

She pulled back to catch her breath and rested her forehead against his, "You have no idea."

"MOM!" Gabriella and Troy immediately pulled apart, both of their heads snapping towards the stairwell that Alex's voice had carried down, "MOM!"

Gabriella was up in an instant, breaking out into a run at the fear in his voice, clambering up the stairs, Troy right behind her. "Baby," Gabriella called, "mom's coming." Gabriella reached his door and pushed it open, immediately heading towards Alex who was sitting up in his bed, hugging his teddy bear, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Baby," Gabriella sat down on the edge of his bed and pulled the little boy into her arms, "what is it?"

Alex pointed at the closed closet door, "Monster!"

Gabriella sighed internally, he had the same recurring dream about monsters in his closet, and normally it wasn't a big deal, but with all that Troy had told her, part of her thought he had seen someone out his window. Ridiculous, but Gabriella couldn't help it.

"Baby," she told him, "we've been over this, there are no monsters in your closet." Gabriella pulled away to check his closet, but Alex threw his arms around her stomach.

"No momma, they'll get you!" Gabriella rolled her eyes and rubbed his arm soothingly as she turned to tell him everything would be fine when a beam of light entered the room, drawing Gabriella and Alex's attention over to the door where Troy was standing, holding a flashlight.

"Bad dreams, bud?" Troy asked and Alex nodded, a pout on his face. "That's okay," he moved into the room and sat down on the end of Alex's bed, "you know what this is?" he asked, shutting off the flashlight and holding it out for him.

"Flashlight."

Troy shook his head, "No, it's a monster scare away-er, if you point it at monsters, they go away." Alex's eyes widened and Troy smiled, "Let me show you."

Troy stood up and walked over to the closet, "No, dad," Alex pleaded, his head shoved into his mother's stomach, "the monsters!"

Gabriella rubbed Alex's back soothingly, "Dad will be fine," she told him, "he deals with monsters every day."

Troy opened the door just a little bit and turned on the flashlight, slowly opening the door further and shining it inside, swinging it fully open to reveal to Alex only the contents of his closet. Alex's eyes were glued to the flashlight and he let go of Gabriella, moving forward on his bed, "See, no monsters."

"Cool!" Alex said as he looked in the closet.

Troy shut the door and flipped off the light before handing it to Alex, "Anytime the monsters bother you, just point that at them and they'll go away."

Gabriella leaned forward as Alex took the flashlight and took it from him. Alex looked over at her, "We'll put it over here." She set it on the nightstand, "Out of the way." She reached out for him, "Now back to sleep, buddy." Alex climbed forward into his mother's arms and she lifted him up and placed him under the covers, tucking them around him. "Night baby." Gabriella pressed a kiss to his forehead before standing up straight.

She stepped out and Troy swooped in, repeating her actions and tucking his teddy bear that had fallen onto the floor under his arm, "Sleep tight." He stood up and walked out past Gabriella who shut the door behind him before placing her ear against the door.

Troy watched her as she listened intently, "Sometimes when he wakes up in the middle of the night he'll play with his toys instead of sleeping." Gabriella whispered to him, her eyes going up to meet his, "But, I guess, you probably know that."

Troy moved his head in the direction of their bedroom, indicating that they didn't want to wake Alex if he had in fact fallen back asleep. Gabriella nodded and walked over to the bedroom, Troy following and shutting the door behind him, "I do know that," he said, answering her question, "but I never watched Alex as much as I watched you."

Gabriella went over and sat down on the bed, staring at him curiously, "Why?"

"He catches me." Troy told her, "A lot in his first year before he could talk."

Gabriella frowned, "That surprises me, he's such a heavy sleeper."

Troy shrugged as he leaned against the dresser, "I don't know. He'd just be sleeping very peacefully, I'd glance down and when I looked back up he'd be staring right at me, smiling. I stopped when he got around one because I didn't want to hear his first word, didn't matter what it was, you deserved to hear it first." He sighed, "Plus, Alex's room is much harder to get to."

Gabriella shut her eyes and shook her head, "It boggles my mind that you were just roaming the house and I didn't even notice."

Troy gave her a half smile, "I was trained not to be noticed." Gabriella looked down, her mind running through everything, "They'll be plenty of time for questions later," Troy said, "you should sleep."

Gabriella shook her head, "I don't want to go to sleep."

Troy sent her a look, "Your body will thank you tomorrow when you're not falling asleep at work." He pushed up from the dresser he was leaning against, "Plus I should go."

Gabriella stood up quickly, "Go where?"

"My apartment." Troy told her and she sent him a curious look, "What, did you think I was just living in the trees this past year?"

Gabriella shrugged, "I never thought about it, like, maybe you were living in the spare bedroom the entire time and I didn't even know."

Troy shook his head, "No, I do follow you a lot of the time, but I do have a job, I follow other people, and all my stuff is there."

"A job?" Gabriella asked, "Where do you work?"

Troy stepped forward and laid his hands on her shoulders, "Tomorrow." Gabriella sighed and looked down, obviously she really wanted to continue asking questions. Troy smiled at her, "Things will make sense, soon, trust me."

Gabriella looked up at him and nodded, "I do."

Her words meant more to him then she knew, "Goodnight." She shut her eyes as he leaned in to kiss her, the kiss slow and sensual, not too deep, just simple and sweet. He pulled back and Gabriella felt him place another one on her forehead before taking a step back, his hands sliding down her arms, one of his hands grabbing her own, "Go to sleep, I'll see you tomorrow."

Gabriella raised her eyebrows, "Will I see you?"

Troy laughed lightly, "If you look hard enough, you will." He dropped her hand and Gabriella watched him turn and walked over to the balcony, opening and closing the door swiftly. He head over to the edge of the balcony, easily swinging his legs over and began climbing down. He paused to send her a smile just before he disappeared out of sight. Gabriella paused for a moment before approaching the glass door, scanning her backyard only to find it empty.


	9. Watching You

**A/N: **First off, I'd just like to start by saying that I am truly overwhelmed by the response this story has been getting. Like, you guys literally have me speechless, and trust me, if you knew me, you'd know how big of a deal that is. So thank you, thank you so _so_ much. Secondly, Abby, you're amazing, thanks for putting up with my awful grammar. And finally, Happy Birthday HSM3!

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**Watching You**

Gabriella was so out of it. Her mind hadn't been at work all day and she was shocked she'd been able to get anything accomplished. Luckily, the majority of her work involved just reading and re-reading over the file to find all of the various holes and fill in what she could. It surprised her how easy it was to fall back into her lifestyle - pretending Troy was dead, her heart still missing him - and she knew that she had fooled Lexi with her sleep deprived exterior, but on the inside she was stewing.

Troy was a smart guy. He underestimated himself because of her, but he really was very smart, and he could do a lot with his brains, but he couldn't exactly work anywhere. It would have to be somewhere that didn't ask too many questions, somewhere he could fly under the radar and avoid detection from Salinas' men. She had been going over places in her mind, but she was finding it difficult because she didn't know how deeply rooted the Salinas family was, how connected they were or who they worked for.

Gabriella was sipping on her diet drink she had carefully balanced on top of the salad she had picked up from a shop across the street from her office, inhaling the caffeine she would desperately need once she went home that evening. A salad was something new for her. Usually she would just order whatever the office was ordering and her diet at home consisted of the nine hotdogs Alex rejected from every pack because they tasted funny. She had always been very healthy when Alex was younger, partially because she was breastfeeding and partially because she had wanted to get back into shape for Troy, then it was just for the breastfeeding. Then Alex started crawling. Once that happened, Gabriella ate when she wasn't chasing after her son who managed to get into everything, and she cared less about taking care of herself and more about Alex, as it should be.

But now Troy was back, and in her head she knew she was acting ridiculous, but the irrational girly side of her was freaking out because she couldn't even remember the last time she had been to the gym. Troy didn't care. For someone who looked as amazingly gorgeous as he did, looks really had little effect on him. He had thought Gabriella was amazingly sexy at nine months pregnant and hadn't been able to get enough. Even afterwards when she had been way less then hot, not interested in working out, and only wanting to be with her baby, he hadn't cared.

But Gabriella cared. It was like their relationship all over again: the courtship, the dating, the kissing, the sex; it would all be new, even if it wasn't really new. She had never so much as thought about anyone, let alone Troy, in a sexual manner since his death, and now it was one of the many things her mind was focused on. In the grand scheme of things, sex was way down from people trying to kill her, her husband, or her son, but it was still a thing, and her insecurities that never really went away were beginning to rear their ugly heads.

The elevator dinged open and Gabriella immediately stepped out, her light pink heels thumping against the carpet as she made her way over towards her office. She had opted for a pair of white pants and a light pink floral top. Her hair was pulled back into a half ponytail and her bangs were swept to the side, framing her face that was done a little heavier with makeup to hide the tiredness.

"Gabriella!"

Gabriella stopped and turned around sharply in the direction her name had come from only to feel herself run straight into a hard body, losing her grip on her soda and watching as the contents spilled all over the white shirt of the person who had tried to get her attention. Gabriella's eyes widened as she grabbed a hold of the cup, the man stepping back and away from the source of the spill instinctively, "Oh my god," Gabriella said stepping forward and beginning to blot out the soda with the few napkins she had in her hand, barely catching sight of the fact that it was Lexi's assistant, Roger, "I am _so_ sorry."

"It's alright." He said immediately but Gabriella didn't stop blotting.

"I should've been watching where I was going," Gabriella continued apologizing, "I'm _so_ sorry!"

He grabbed her hands and Gabriella looked up at him, "Really, Mrs. Bolton, it's okay."

Roger Carmichael was Lexi's assistant who worked with her on cases when other lawyers weren't available to help. He was technically a legal aid, in his final year of law school at UCLA, he was her age, and she had talked with him on a few occasions to learn that he enlisted in the army at eighteen and served four years before returning to LA to go back to school.

He was rather rare for one of Lexi's assistants. Normally they were lucky if they lasted three months, but he had been around for almost a year now, partially because he was smart, having experience in things a lot of people couldn't understand, and partially because he was good looking. With his short curly brown hair, dark skin, square framed glasses resting over his hazelnut eyes, strong jaw, and from what she just felt, built body. He attracted a lot of attention from both clients and the women around the office.

He struck Gabriella as an adorkable nerd, just like the ones she went to law school with at Harvard, except less stuck up and more sweet. Lexi loved him. Probably a little too much for someone who was married with three kids, but Lexi had once told her that it was okay to look as long as she didn't act. Gabriella guessed that was why she had chosen someone who was also married, cemented by the silver ring on his third finger.

"Lexi wanted to see you."

Gabriella nodded her head at Roger's words, "Oh my god, I am so sorry, I really didn't mean…I didn't see you…its diet so it won't be sticky, but…"

He laughed lightly, revealing a wide smile, "Really, I'm fine," he insisted, "and Lexi really wanted me to catch you before your lunch."

Gabriella looked away from the menacing brown spot she had formed on his shirt and down at the salad she had gotten, "I already picked up lunch."

Roger nodded, "I don't think it was _for_ lunch, I just think she wanted to catch you before you left for an extended amount of time, she seemed…" Roger paused, looking for the right word, "…anxious about something. She said it was urgent."

Gabriella glanced down before nodding, "Oh, okay, look, Roger, I am _so_…"

Roger raised his dark eyebrows, "Really, I was supposed to catch you a while ago, so the sooner you get there…"

Gabriella nodded and immediately started walking towards Lexi's office, still facing Roger, "Leave the mess, I'll clean it up…"

He shook his head, "Really, Mrs. Bolton, its fine, go!"

Gabriella sighed dejectedly, "Its Gabriella."

Roger smiled at her, "Gabriella, really, its okay, its better than watching Lexi ogle at me all day." Gabriella didn't really have a response so she just turned and walked towards Lexi's office, a frown on her features as she walked inside, not even bothering to knock.

Lexi, who had been pouring over something, looked up from her desk and shot Gabriella a curious look, "What's wrong?"

"I'm such a klutz," Gabriella said as she fell into the chair in front of Lexi's desk, "I just spilt my soda _all_ over Roger."

Lexi rolled her eyes and waved a hand at Gabriella, "He worked in Special Ops, he'll probably beat it out with a rock, or if we're lucky he'll just go shirtless."

Gabriella rolled her eyes and shook her head, "What was it you wanted, Lexi?"

Lexi glanced down at the file she had been pouring over before looking back up, "Okay, so I've been digging into Troy's file, as I told you I would, and I think I've found something."

Gabriella felt bad, Lexi was spending time on this file when she could be out convicting criminals. Yesterday, it would've bothered her, but today it was killing her considering she was not only lying, but she had, for all intensive purposes, solved it. "Oh really?"

Lexi swallowed, "Okay, so, I'm not saying he's alive," Gabriella's brow furrowed, "but I looked at the file the funeral home wrote up, they did the autopsy and such, but the files have holes in them. So I called the funeral home, which has changed owners but they still have the old files, and Troy's…didn't have an autopsy report." She held out a file and Gabriella took it, setting her salad down on Lexi's desk, "I know he was injured, but they'd still do an autopsy. And I pulled Troy's license and found that he had listed that he weighed 165 pounds, casket usually weigh around 100 pounds, and plus the chemicals pumped inside of bodies to make them not smell and such." She shook her head, "The weight they had listed was 110 pounds."

Gabriella focused on the paper in front of her, her eyes drifting down to the signature of the FBI agent who approved them. Kevin McDaniels every time. "The funeral director seemed certain it was a mistake." Lexi continued, "I don't know, there's just a lot of mistakes and coincidences."

Gabriella blinked as she looked up at Lexi, "What do we do?"

Lexi stood up and walked around the desk and over to the open door, shutting it. Lexi had her own private 'suite' type area. Roger acted as sort of a receptionist, his desk out in the main area with couches for clients to wait on, and his own door to shut them both off, not that Lexi ever _called_ him a receptionist, she merely said he was a filter. But whatever she was going to say, she didn't want even Roger to know.

"This is dangerous ground, Gabs." Lexi told her as she sunk into the chair next to Gabriella, who turned her body to face her boss, "This is the FBI, this is Troy's former place of employment, still the place of employment of his best friend, your friend. Troy loved his job, he believed in what he did…"

"I know," Gabriella said with a nod, "and I will fight for exactly what Troy fought for. It wasn't the institution, it was the justice, it was what was right, that was what he believed in."

Lexi nodded, studying her features, "I'm not saying he's alive," she started, "if he was alive, I don't see him staying away from you and Alex."

"I know." Another twinge of guilt, "I just want to find out who did this."

Lexi nodded, "Okay, let me have some time, I have a friend who may be able to get me the information I am looking for." She sent Gabriella a look, "Right now keep this between us, I don't want people talking yet." Gabriella nodded, "I'm sorry, I've got a client coming in in a few minutes."

"Oh, yeah," Gabriella stood up, "thank you for this Lexi."

Lexi nodded, "You're welcome."

Exchanging a small smile with her boss, Gabriella grabbed the remains of her lunch off of the desk before turning and walking out of the office. Pulling the door shut behind her, Gabriella glanced around the room and found Roger sitting at his desk typing vigorously on his desktop. She eyes moved down to his shirt and found that there was no stain present where there had been earlier and she briefly wondered about what Lexi said, _had_ he beat it out with a rock?

Gabriella cautiously approached his desk and bit her lip nervously, "Don't." he said without looking up.

"I'm sorry!" Gabriella said in a desperate voice as she fell into the chair in front of his desk. His eyes turned from the computer to her face with an amused look, "I didn't mean to…you just…were following too closely."

Roger raised his eyebrows, "So it's my fault?"

"No," Gabriella said, "I just was letting you know that you should always keep a good five feet between us at all times." His eyes returned to his computer and Gabriella scrunched up her face, "Sorry!" she peeped.

Roger groaned and turned towards her, "What will it take for you to stop apologizing? I changed my shirt, it's not a big deal."

"Let me wash the shirt!" Gabriella offered.

"No." Roger said immediately.

"Let me buy you a new shirt."

"No!"

"You've gotta let me do something for you!" Gabriella said, "Coffee, let me buy you coffee!"

Roger rolled his eyes, "Fine, you can buy me coffee."

Gabriella smiled, "Great, I'll see you after work!"

Gabriella stood up and began heading out of the room, "Wait, I meant just go get some!" Roger yelled after her.

She threw a wave over her shoulder, "Meet you downstairs."

* * *

"How are you holding up?" Gabriella asked into her phone as she stood at the entrance to her office building, briefcase and purse hanging off of one arm with her jacket she didn't need, folded over the top.

"_I'm fine,"_ the voice responded, _"but Tay was…upset…last night."_

Gabriella smiled at her best friend's husband's voice, sure she had been more than upset when Chad had told her Troy was alive, "I'm surprised she didn't barge in and beat him or something."

"_No, not…"_ Gabriella could imagine Chad shaking his head, _"I didn't tell her, Troy asked me not to. She was upset about something else."_

Gabriella pursed her lips, "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"_No." _Chad answered immediately, _"Look, I gotta go. Plus, this isn't really something we should be discussing now."_

Gabriella nodded, despite that he couldn't see her, "Right."

"_Do you want me to come over after work?"_

Gabriella paused for a moment, "No." she finally said, "Take Taylor out for dinner or something. She's been whining about how you never get her flowers anymore."

Chad chuckled lightly, _"I'm not sure I ever got her flowers. Troy was always the flower guy."_

"Well, it's not too late to start." Gabriella saw the elevator doors open and saw Roger walk out, fiddling with his phone, "Hey, I've gotta go, I'm having coffee with a friend from work, I'll talk to you later."

"_See ya."_ Gabriella hung up the phone when she heard it click, smiling at Roger as he looked up to find her standing there.

He rolled his eyes, "Really, this isn't necessary."

"Please?" Gabriella asked, "It'll make me feel better."

He sent her a look and Gabriella was overrun with a sense of déjà vu, "Fine." He conceded, "One cup of coffee."

Gabriella smiled animatedly and turned towards the door. Walking out of it and down the road towards the coffee shop, Gabriella repressed the memory that tried to surface from when she had had coffee with Kevin the previous night. Dwelling on it would not serve any purpose, and frankly, with everything else buzzing around her head, it was better to just push that experience back to the deepest corner of her brain. It didn't take long for the two to reach it and Gabriella and Roger sat down at a small table in the corner, both just ordering simple cups of coffee. "You can order more." Gabriella told him.

"Nah, I'm good." He told her simply.

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders, "You're making it awfully difficult for me to apologize to you."

"That's because there's nothing to apologize for," Roger responded, "it wasn't your fault, it wasn't my fault, it was an accident, pure and simple."

Gabriella stuck out her hand, "I'm Gabriella, by the way," she said suddenly, "I'm not really sure we've ever properly introduced ourselves."

Roger shook her hand, "Roger, and no, we haven't, but that's okay, I understand, I'm just a lowly law student."

Gabriella shook her head, "No, no, no," she said quickly, "that has nothing to do with it, I just," she looked down, "you started at a difficult time in my life."

Roger looked down, "Sorry…I-I heard about your husband, I'm sorry."

Gabriella lifted her head, "It's fine, I'm just sorry I never really got to know you, I know about everyone except you."

He smiled, "I like being a mystery."

Gabriella glanced up as their coffees appeared and she gave the waitress a smile before lifting the warm liquid to her lips and taking a sip, "Well, you're not that big of a mystery," Gabriella said as she set down her cup, "Lexi says you were in Special Operations?" Roger nodded, "Cool, what'd you do?"

His face was serious, "If I told you, I'd have to kill you." Gabriella sent him a look and he smiled before letting his smile drop again, "No, seriously, I can't tell you. But it was intense, and I'm glad to be back in LA."

"Well, we're glad to have you here," Gabriella told him, "when do you graduate?"

"Soon." Roger answered.

Gabriella tilted her head, "Are you going to stay with us?"

Roger narrowed his eyes, "Is that why you did this, did Lexi send you to recruit me?"

Gabriella raised her eyebrows, "No," she said immediately, "I was just curious."

Roger shrugged, "I don't know, there's a lot of factors to consider, there's a lot of good firms out there, it's hard to choose."

"I know," Gabriella said, remembering her own experience, "and this firm isn't as glamorous as some of the other ones, and you see the worst of the worst, but if you want an in it's a good place to start."

Roger nodded, "I'll consider it." Gabriella lifted her cup again and took another sip as Roger studied her, "Can I ask you a question?" Gabriella swallowed and nodded her head, "You went to Harvard," it wasn't a question, "why did you come here? Surely Boston had just as good a DA's office there?"

"My husband was here," Gabriella answered honestly, "well, at the time we were just boyfriend and girlfriend, but I hoped he'd get the hint when I got here."

Roger shook his head, "But you gave up so many opportunities?"

"Opportunities are what you make them," Gabriella told him, "what good is working at the best law firm in the US if the man I loved was not there with me? I was perfectly content with taking a different opportunity if it meant I could have a life with him." She gave him a look, "You understand, you're married." He raised his eyebrows and looked down, Gabriella glancing down to the tabletop and catching sight of the sliver of skin that had been revealed by his sleeves riding up. Her eyes narrowed as she saw a small tattoo of 'Alex' in script writing staining the underside of his right wrist. "Is Alex your wife?" her eyes turned up to his as he looked down at what she was looking at.

He smiled, "No," he reached over and ran the fingers of his left hand over the tattoo, "he's not." Gabriella had been smiling slightly, ready to point out how her life seemed to be surrounded by Alex's, her son, Troy's middle name, her boss, but the smile slipped off of her face as she focused on the silver ring sitting on his third finger. Gabriella recognized that ring, she'd recognize that ring anywhere

How do you pick a ring for a guy? For girls, it's easy. Most aren't picky, if it's real, if it fits, if it's sparkly, and from the right guy, they'd squeal when he got down on one knee and accept it eagerly. For guys it was different. Gabriella had stressed and stressed, gone to a dozen different stores, measured Troy's finger twelve different times while he was sleeping, and almost bought thirty seven different rings before finding the perfect one. It wasn't complex, really, for as much as she had stressed over it, it was rather simple. White gold like her ring, a hammered look to it, framed on either side with smooth metal.

And sitting there on Roger's third finger was that ring.

Gabriella reached out and snatched his hand up, gripping the ring and tugging it off of his finger, her hands lifting it up to her eye level, examining the inscription on the inside.

'_I love you, wildcat'_

Gabriella looked up with wide eyes as the ring was taken from her and Roger…uh…he slipped it back on his third finger, looking down with a smile. "I've worked with you for eleven months, I've brought you 237 cups of coffee, we've worked on," he looked up, "like forty cases together," his eyes moved back down to hers and she caught a glimpse of blue around the edges before the brown covered it up, "and you never noticed."

Gabriella couldn't believe it. He didn't look like Troy. The hair, the eyes, the mouth…even if they were different, she'd be able to tell, she knew it. And his voice, she'd know that voice anywhere. But ignoring the hair, changing the eye color to blue, and looking past the glasses…the shape of his face…the straight nose…the eye shape…that was Troy. Troy was Roger. And Roger had worked with her for over a year, meaning Troy _really_ had been there all along.

"I told you I was watching." He said and Gabriella was brought out of her daze to look at him and suddenly it hit her.

"Oh my god!"

Troy/Roger reached forward quickly and clamped his hand over her mouth, sending smiles to the few people that looked at Gabriella's loud proclamation, "She burned herself." He offered as a brief explanation.

Gabriella reached up and pulled his hand off of her mouth, "What are you doing?" she glanced around, "Are you crazy, what if someone spots you?"

Troy raised his eyebrows, "Gabriella, we have been together for ten years and you didn't even recognize me."

"I thought you'd be watching Alex!" Gabriella said in a loud whisper, "I can take care of myself, he can't…"

Troy's hand grasped her wrist when she went to stand up and even though he wasn't physically stopping her, his nonchalant attitude was, "Keep your face impassive," he told her, "you get up and storm out of here, it will be bad for both of us."

Gabriella's eyes widened slightly, "Are we being watched?"

Troy nodded, "Kevin's waiting for you outside," her eyes widened further, "not like that, he wants to talk to you, probably gauge whether or not you _really _are a threat."

Gabriella glanced to the side, "Is there like a back door around here?"

"Gabriella," Troy started, "you'll be fine, he'd never risk doing something so public, we'll walk out together, you two will exchange heated words, and I'll offer to walk you to your car. I won't leave your side until you're driving away, promise."

The plan was logical, it would be, part of her knew that this was not only a FBI agent but also her husband, he wouldn't let anything happen to her, he died for a year and a half to keep her safe. Gabriella swallowed and relaxed her face, looking down and trying to look like nothing had happened, "Okay."

Troy let go of her wrist and moved his hand over to the coffee cup, playing with it absently as he watched her, "Are you mad at me?"

Gabriella shook herself, keeping her head down, "I'm more mad at myself, I really should've seen it, all the signs were there, I just didn't see it."

"You had no reason to see it," Troy told her simply, "you shouldn't have been looking at everyone and looking for a sign that it might be me, that's not healthy. Moving on is healthy, and that's what you were trying to do."

Gabriella looked up, shaking her head, "Move on, I wasn't trying to move on…"

"You should try." Troy interrupted her.

Gabriella sent him a confused look, "Are you breaking up with me?"

Troy looked down, "First off, it's no longer called breaking up," Gabriella's eyes widened but Troy quickly cut her off before she started screaming or crying, "and I'm not breaking up with you," he added quickly, "I just realize it's been a year and a half, I can't expect you to feel the same as you did before, and I don't. I only want you happy, and if you're happier without me, I completely understand." He told her, "Know I'll always be here for you and Alex, but if you want a divorce," his voice faltered and he tried to cover it up by clearing his throat but Gabriella caught it, "I'll give you one."

Gabriella blinked at him, "Haven't you been watching this entire time you were gone?"

He looked down, "Yes, but…"

"No buts about it," Gabriella said simply, "I haven't touched your side of the closet, I've left all your things in the dresser, I won't even take your stuff out of the shower because that was where we last…" her voice broke and she looked down, lifting the back of her hand to cover her nose and mouth, blinking to repress the tears.

Troy reached under the table and grabbed her hand, "I didn't mean to upset you." He said simply, "I just don't want you to look back and regret staying with me. You don't have to stay out of obligation, I will understand."

Gabriella looked up at him, "Yeah, well, I won't, so stop trying to talk me into leaving."

"I don't want you to leave," Troy told her, "the only thing that kept me going most nights was the fact that I knew one day we would be able to go back to the way we were, but I could never live with myself if I found out you only stayed because you felt obligated too." His thumb ran over the back of her hand under the table, "I'm sorry, really, I just want to make sure we're both in this for the right reasons."

She nodded, "Well, I am."

Troy smiled slightly at her firm tone, "Good, me too." He gave her hand another squeeze before pulling back and bringing his arms above the table, resting his elbows on the surface and twining his fingers, "Are you hungry, we can eat here?"

Gabriella shook her head, "No, Alex…"

"Is eating with my parents." Troy told her, "I talked to them about a half hour ago, Alex was shouting spaghetti in the background."

Gabriella smiled, "Spaghetti is his favorite because he can throw it at people."

Troy smiled, nodding his head, "Yeah, most definitely my son."

Gabriella gasped as she reached out and seized his wrist, bringing it up to her face as she examined the tattoo of their son's name on his skin, "You got another tattoo?"

Troy nodded, "I got another tattoo," he told her, "now I have the two most important people in my life with me at all times." He retracted his arm and Gabriella moved her eyes up to his as he looked down at his arm, "And, I figured, if _more_ happen, I could just…" he motioned with his finger down the length of his arm, indicating that more names could be put there if more children occurred.

Gabriella smiled and looked down, the vision of the family that she had let fade away come to the forefront of her memory. They hadn't planned on Alex, but once he did happen, they constantly talked about children. Troy didn't care, he wanted as many as Gabriella wanted, and Gabriella really didn't care either as long as she got at least one boy and one girl.

"…add more." Troy finished slowly and Gabriella continued to look down at her hands, "And now that I've made this sufficiently awkward…"

"I wanna talk." Gabriella announced, looking up, "I want to talk, and I want to talk with you…not…you." She motioned to his outfit.

Troy nodded, "Well, we can go home…"

"No," Gabriella cut him off, "we need to talk, and we need to talk away from Alex."

That meant there was going to be yelling but it was unavoidable, if they did it now or did it later, they'd have to do it so the sooner they talked, the sooner they could move past everything. Troy nodded, "Okay, we'll talk."

Gabriella watched as he stood up and grabbed his things, quickly doing the same, grabbing for her wallet to pay but Troy beat her to it, throwing some money down onto the table and turning away to head out of the coffee shop, leaving no room for argument. Gabriella rolled her eyes, she guessed that time hadn't changed anything about Troy, he still insisted on paying for everything. Even once they were married and the money was technically all the same, he still paid.

Gabriella followed after him catching his arm at the door and turning him to face her, "Where…"

"Gabriella!"

Gabriella turned at her name and her eyes widened slightly as she remembered that Kevin was waiting for her outside, and now was currently walking towards her. Her mind blanked, all she could remember was when she had arrived at the hospital to be told her husband was dead, told by this man, lied to by this man.

"Do you know this guy?" For the first time it struck her how different yet similar Troy and Roger's voices were. Troy's was soft and velvet, just as she remembered it, light and sweet, laced with constant sarcasm while Roger's was deeper, darker, more serious. He was an ex-military guy who supposedly had seen it all and it reflected in his voice, but at the same time, knowing who he was now, she could hear the same underlying tone.

Gabriella swallowed, remembering the game plan Troy had laid out, her face becoming impassive, "What do you want Kevin?"

He came to stop in front of her, his eyes skimming over Troy, but, thankfully, returning to her immediately, not even a hint of recognition in his eyes. "I've been worried about you, I heard about the attack."

"Really," Gabriella asked sarcastically, "and do you know who did it?"

Kevin sent her an odd look, "No, why would I? You stormed off, remember?"

"I'll tell you what I remember," Gabriella told him, "I remember me and my husband trusting you, I remember you promising me you'd find his killer, and I remember a lot of things missing from his case file."

"You're mistaken," his voice was even and Gabriella watched him pull up a case file, "this is Troy's case file, you got an incomplete one, I don't know who gave it to you, but definitely someone trying to mess with you. You're right," he added when Gabriella went to talk, "Troy did trust us, and you should too." He reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards him, "Come on, we can go somewhere and go over this file, I realize you should be included in this now."

Gabriella snatched her hand away from him, "I know that the case file I saw was the right one, and I know you know it is too, no one's messing with my mind but you, I am just curious as to why," she quirked an eyebrow, "guilty conscious?"

Kevin's eyes moved from her to Troy who was still standing behind her, "Something we can help you with?"

"Just waiting to take Gabriella to her car." Troy said simply.

"I'll walk her to her car." Kevin rebutted, "Move along now."

"I don't think so," Gabriella cut in, "you'll stay away from me, any further contact between us will be between you and my lawyer."

Gabriella turned and began walking down the street, Troy falling into step next to her, Kevin walking behind them, "Your lawyer…"

"You're getting off of this case," Gabriella told him firmly, "and we're getting someone who will actually do their job." She looked up at Troy as she felt him put his hand on her waist, leading her to cross the street, over to where the parking lot was, walking towards her car. Gabriella went to glance over her shoulder, but looked up at Troy instead.

"He's still following." Troy told her in a low voice, "He's hoping I'll leave and he can catch you before you drive away."

Gabriella pulled her keys out of her purse and unlocked her car, walking up to it and pulling open the door, "Where are we…" she began as she turned to face him, stopping when she felt a piece of paper shoved into her hand.

"Go there." Troy whispered before taking a step back and grabbing the door, holding it open for her to get into the car.

She sent him a smile and climbed inside, "Thank you."

He nodded, "See you tomorrow." He gave her a crooked smile, "And try to not spill coffee on me again."

Gabriella smiled as he shut the door and wasted no time in starting her car, glancing down at the address on the sheet. She didn't recognize it and reached for her center console, quickly programming it into her GPS system and putting the car into reverse.

Troy watched her go as he withdrew his keys from his pocket, glancing over at Kevin who was watching her drive off as well. Troy and he locked eyes for a moment before Troy turned and headed to his car, easily able to hear the footsteps heading towards him, "Her husband's dead, you know?" Kevin's voice sounded behind him.

"I know." Troy said simply as he pulled open his door and prepared to get into his car.

"She's an emotional wreck," Kevin continued, "she doesn't need people like you feeding her lies."

Troy shoved his briefcase into the car and turned to look at Kevin, "What makes you think I'm feeding her anything? We work together, she's going through a rough patch after getting attacked, we're helping her, I would think you would too. If you want her to stop questioning you and your motives, find her husband's killer, hell, find her attacker, _that_ will win her over." Troy didn't say any more as he got into his car and slammed the door, wishing Kevin was standing behind his car so he had an excuse to hit him.


	10. I Missed You

**A/N:** A million thanks to my favorite 21 year old for handling my awful grammar. You're the best, Abby!

* * *

**I Missed You**

Troy threw his keys on the table next to the door, holding the door open for Gabriella as she entered his apartment behind him. She shut the door as Troy walked in, tossing his things down onto the sofa before shrugging off his jacket.

Gabriella let her eyes sweep the small apartment. It wasn't significantly special. The walls were white and not decorated; it was a typical layout with a portion of the main area made into a living room with a black chair and couch framing a TV sitting in the corner. There was a square table with four chairs behind the couch and to the right of the table was a dividing wall with a large portion cut out, allowing Gabriella to see into the kitchen. On the opposite side of the table were three doors**:** two bedrooms, one bath.

"I don't have any food," Troy said interrupting her observing, "and it's messy, I rarely have people over."

Gabriella looked over at him, "Do you rarely eat?"

Troy smiled, "No, I just eat out a lot. I was…" he paused, "…never the cook."

That was true. Gabriella was the cook, Troy helped, but he always did what she _told_ him to, and he could prepare very few things on his own. She always wondered how he managed two years without her while she was at law school, it must have been a lot of cold pizza. She lifted her eyebrows, "Well, if you'd have listened in foods class in high school like I told you to, you would've learned."

Troy brought his hand up scratching the back of his neck, "Yeah, well, I was eighteen, and I could never focus with you in my classes." Gabriella watched as he pulled his hair up and off of his head, the curly hair that had been sitting atop his head now hanging from the fingers of his left hand as his right hand messed up his actual hair that had been matted underneath. He turned and walked over to one of the three doors, opening the one farthest to the right and flipping on the light.

Gabriella walked forward and leaned against the doorway of the room, taking in this room which she had thought to be a bedroom and was most definitely not. The walls were covered with photographs, newspaper clippings, online printouts, and other various pieces of paper all relating to Anthony Salinas or the Salinas family in some way. There was a desk against the opposite wall with a computer and two monitors and next to it was a bookshelf full of unmarked DVD cases that she was certain were surveillance tapes. Troy was standing in front of a mirror, having deposited the wig into a box, currently taking out his contacts.

She walked in further her arms hanging in front of her, clasped together tightly to hide her nervousness. She moved over to the closed closet door, turned the knob out of curiosity and glanced inside, her eyes widening at the sight of the walls of the closet lined with racks full of various size guns. Guns had never really bothered her, Troy had had a few, and he almost always had one near, either on him or in the car. It came with the territory of being an FBI agent. But never this many.

She meekly closed the door and turned back around to see Troy closing the contact case and stuffing it into the drawer, "So do you want to order pizza or something?"

Gabriella shrugged as he turned to face her, "I don't really care, whatever you want I'm okay with."

Troy raised his eyebrows, "Is there anything you don't want?"

"Hotdogs." Gabriella answered, "Anything but hotdogs."

Troy smiled, "Deal, no hotdogs."

Troy walked out of the room and Gabriella rolled her eyes while releasing a sigh, it was funny how she could be twenty seven, married for almost four years, together for almost ten, have a child together, and still be nervous around each other. It was like high school all over again, except worse because their biggest danger now wasn't who the Wildcats would face in their next game. Her eyes turned over to the closet she had looked inside earlier.

Definitely not high school.

Gabriella walked out of the room and glanced into the living room to see Troy was standing in front of the refrigerator, holding his phone to his ear, already on the phone with whatever he was planning on ordering for dinner. Gabriella began absently walking around the edge of the apartment, glancing into his bathroom and taking in the plain décor, not that it surprised her, the only thing Troy took an interest in decorating was Alex's room and that was just due to the excitement of the baby.

She walked along and came to pause in front of what she assumed was Troy's bedroom. Just like the bathroom, it was plain, dark blue walls with beige carpet, a chest of drawers against one wall, the closet door on the opposite, the bed was the main fixture point, and she wasn't at all surprised to find the bed unmade and clothes strewn on the floor. It didn't look all that used, almost as though it was there for show rather then use. Despite his comment earlier about the trees, it wouldn't surprise her at all if he had slept in the trees a time or two outside of their house. She had always been the heavy sleeper and he was the light one, and she guessed he thought she would sleep through an attack if someone tried to break into the house.

She went to turn away when her eyes fell on a framed photo of her and Alex sitting on the bedside table. It was the same one he kept on his laptop, Gabriella feeding Alex. It was the only picture, hell, it was the only personal touch in the entire apartment. If she hadn't known it was Troy's, she'd have believed it was anyone's.

"They said about fifteen minutes," Gabriella turned around at Troy's voice and found him walking towards her, hitting keys on his phone, "it's this little Chinese place down the street, the food's great."

Gabriella nodded, "I love Chinese, I don't get to have it that often," she glanced down, "Alex, he tried it once…" she released a laugh.

"And he threw it on the floor." Troy finished for her, a smile toying at his lips, "Yeah, he's a pretty picky eater, isn't he?"

Gabriella nodded and rolled her eyes, "Yeah, he must have gotten that from me because you have never been a picky eater." Her brow furrowed, "Weren't…a picky eater." She corrected, "I guess I really don't know anymore."

Gabriella looked down and Troy felt the smile slip off of his face, this was where they were going to go, this was where they needed to go, but it didn't make hearing the pain in her voice easier. "I still am everything I was," Troy told her softly, "I am still me, I am still your husband, and I still love you." He swallowed when Gabriella looked up, "Time hasn't changed anything about that, at least, not on my end."

Gabriella diverted her eyes and looked to the side, processing what he said and what she wanted to say, "I…" Gabriella stopped abruptly when a knock sounded at the door.

Troy groaned, rolling his eyes and letting his shoulders sink a bit, obviously not happy with the interruption, "Hold that train of thought." He told her firmly as he began backing up and he spun around, striding over to the door and pulling it open.

"Hey!" She heard a soft, enthusiastic, female voice greet, her eyes narrowing as Troy forced a smile onto his features.

"Heidi," he breathed out, his tone annoyed, "hi, what can I do for you?"

Gabriella walked over slightly to see who he was talking with and peered past his attempt to shield them with his body, finding a petite blonde standing in the doorway. A hot petite blonde. A very hot petite blonde who was currently smiling at Troy flirtatiously. They obviously knew each other, given by their first name basis, and Gabriella would bet she lived in the apartment complex with him given that she was only dressed in a pair of short black workout shorts and a white camisole, showing off her curvaceous figure, along with her white sports bra that was peeking out from beneath the shirt, unnecessarily increasing her cleavage for a simple workout. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her tanned skin was flawless, as was her face, makeup professionally hiding any imperfections. Oh brother.

"I was just heading down to the workout room," the blonde said chipperly, "wanna come?"

Troy shook his head, "Can't, I have company."

The blonde's eyebrows rose and she immediately swept the apartment to see if he was lying, stopping on Gabriella, Gabriella feeling extremely insecure under her brown eyes, "Oh," she said excitedly, "is this your sister?" Gabriella's brows lifted as Heidi came barreling towards her. Sister? Really? She and Troy looked absolutely nothing alike, not even a little bit, "I'm Heidi, I live down the hall."

Gabriella looked down at Heidi's hand, "I'm not his sister, Troy and I…"

Heidi tilted her head, "Troy?"

"She means Roger." Gabriella looked over to see Troy arrive next to her and her eyes widened, right, not Troy.

"Of course," Gabriella said quickly, "Troy's his middle name…inside joke…" she added on lamely. "I…am…" Gabriella's eyes moved over to Troy, begging for help on what she should say.

"We work together," Troy finished for her, looking over at Heidi, "and actually we need to stay focused, big case."

Heidi nodded, turning to look at Troy and Gabriella sighed when her gaze was diverted, "Okay, did you wanna go later, because I can wait."

Troy shook his head, "No, but thanks for the offer, I'm pretty busy with work and stuff."

"I know," Heidi agreed, "I haven't seen you around here at all lately, we should have dinner, catch up."

Gabriella looked down, of course, a twenty seven year old attractive male with no visible wife, hot blonde living in his apartment complex with obvious interest. They were _those_ kind of friends.

Troy shook his head, "I'm not entirely sure your boyfriend would be okay with that," he told her firmly, Heidi's face dropping a bit, "and plus I'm seeing someone."

Gabriella's eyes moved up at his last comment and she noticed Heidi glance over in her direction, "Seeing someone?"

Troy nodded, "Yes," he took a step over to the door and pulled it open, "it was great to see you, but we really do need to get back to work."

Heidi looked back over at Gabriella, nodding, "Work, right." She turned and walked back over to the door, she was barely out the door when Troy swung it shut and Gabriella wasn't entirely certain he didn't hit her with it.

Troy turned to face her, "I…" he was cut off by another sharp knock to the door and Gabriella watched his jaw clench, obviously not even a little happy about the interruption. He shook his head, "Heidi, I swear…" he mumbled under his breath as he yanked the door open, sighing in relief when he found the delivery guy standing there.

Gabriella saw him reach for his wallet and she immediately walked over to the table where she had dropped her purse, digging for her wallet, "Here, Tr-Roger…" she corrected herself, lifting out her wallet and preparing to dig for cash, but stopping when she saw Troy hand the guy the money without glancing at her and taking the food.

He turned away, balancing the containers in his hands, nodding his head towards the open door, "Would you shut that?"

Gabriella sighed and set her wallet back in her purse, well, at least there was one thing that would never change about Troy. Gabriella walked over and went to shut the door, glancing out of it to see Heidi standing in an open doorway, one Gabriella guessed was hers, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. Gabriella just looked away, shutting the door quietly before following Troy to the kitchen.

* * *

The silence was killing her.

Gabriella had followed Troy to the kitchen, and after grabbing the necessary utensils, plates, and condiments the two had headed into the living room. Gabriella had made a brief call home to tell Sarah and Jack she wouldn't be home until late and to talk to Alex before he went to bed. After listening to the two year old babble for fifteen minutes about any and everything, Gabriella hung up. After that she expected the questions to start, her mind filled with them, but she had instead started eating her dinner and silence had fallen between the two.

And the silence was killing her.

Somewhere along the way, the TV had been turned on, probably by Troy, and both of them were slightly thankful for the distraction, though neither was watching it. Troy was pretending too, but Gabriella knew him enough to know that his mind was spinning despite that his eyes were on the screen. She was picking at the remnants of her food, her nervousness replacing her appetite, leaving a good portion of the food in the carton.

Gabriella stuck her fork down into the center of the carton and slyly moved her eyes off of the screen and over to the person next to her. She was doing it as nonchalantly as she could, her eyes moving slowly, and by the time she reached Troy's face, she found his blue eyes staring back at her. They both diverted them immediately: Troy's going back to the TV and Gabriella looking down at her food.

Troy shut his eyes, shaking his head, "Did we really just do that?"

Gabriella bit her bottom lip, "Yeah." Troy rolled his eyes before reopening them, mentally cursing himself for not having the guts to start the conversation. "How…" Troy's head snapped over at Gabriella's voice and she paused at the beginning, wording her question in her head, "How does this whole second identity work?" she asked, not looking up from her food, "I mean, Roger has the wig and the eyes, but you weren't wearing them and that Heidi girl knew you as Roger."

Troy would tell her any and everything she wanted to know, he was just glad for the break in silence, "Most of the time I take the stuff off in the car, but occasionally I don't and really they just never asked. I think they just assume its part of my job."

Gabriella nodded, taking in his answer, and resumed picking at her food, "Oh."

"Yep." Troy responded, watching her carefully, "Do you have any more questions?" he asked, causing Gabriella's eyes to turn towards him, "I mean, you said you wanted to talk, I'm not holding anything back, I'm not planning on holding anything back, and yet we sit here in silence?"

Gabriella blinked, studying him for a moment, "What happens now?" Troy raised his eyebrows in question, "I mean," she continued, "you said you can't be alive yet, so what happens now, how much longer are you Roger? When can you just be Troy?"

Troy looked to the side; this seemed like the one question he didn't want her to ask, "I don't know," he said softly, "I wish I could put a timestamp on this…"

"On what?" Gabriella interrupted and Troy looked back up as Gabriella turned her body towards him, leaning in slightly, "If what you said to your parents is true, then I'm in this, so what is _it_?"

Troy blinked several times before shutting his eyes, looking almost in pain, "Gabriella, when I say you're in this, I don't mean you're _in_ this." He reopened his eyes and looked at her, "I don't mind sharing information with you because they're already going to assume you know and it's safer for you to know what's going on around you," he explained, "but don't get these visions in your head that you're going to be out there fighting bad guys," he shook his head, "you're not, I will not allow it."

Gabriella sent him a look, "But you said there were lawyers in this thing you're in, why can't I be one of them?"

"Because you can't." Troy told her, "Because we have Alex to think about…because I don't want what happened to me to happen to you…I could easily think of dozens of reason why."

Gabriella shook her head, "But that's not fair, Troy…we have Alex to think of…_we_…not just me…"

"I'm not budging on this." Troy told her firmly, "I know we're still fragile with the state of us, but I'm not going to budge because I'd rather have you mad at me than dead."

Both of their voices were rising and the two had scooted forward onto the edge of the couch, caught up in the moment, "I can help," Gabriella argued, "I'm smart, Kevin likes me, we can use that…"

"NO!" Troy yelled causing Gabriella to recoil slightly, "Damnit Gabriella, I said no! You're not a police officer, you're not going to chase down bad guys, or use the fact that Kevin lusts after you, you're a lawyer, you're a mother, you're going to be those things first."

Gabriella stared at Troy for a moment before turning her head forward, sitting in silence as his words lingered in the air. Troy looked down for a moment, unhappy that he let his emotions get the best of him, "I know you just want to help…"

"You can't stop me." Gabriella said defiantly, turning her head to look at Troy, determination etched on her face, "I love you, I respect your opinion, but you can't stop me."

Gabriella stood up immediately and began walking towards the front door, grabbing her purse along the way. Troy was right behind her. "No, Gabriella, you cannot do this," his tone was almost pleading as Gabriella grabbed the doorknob and yanked open the door, Troy slamming his hand up against it to force it shut again, "you have to promise me, you have to swear on our child you won't do this."

"I can't and I won't," Gabriella said as she pulled on the door, feeling tears brimming her eyes, "let me out."

"No," Troy said in a determined voice, "you wanna play the strength game? You wanna see who's stronger of the two of us? Because I guarantee it's you." Gabriella shook her head, "I cannot lose you the way you lost me, if anything ever happened to you or Alex I could not live with myself, so please, _please_…"

Gabriella stopped pulling on the door and turned to face Troy, "I am more capable then everyone gives me credit for," she defended. "I lived for a year and a half without the love of my life, my husband, my son's father, that is ten times worse then any sort of torture or violence that could ever be inflicted upon me, and I will do _everything_ to make sure I don't have to face it again."

"I am not saying you're not capable," Troy argued, "but I will never willingly subject you to what I subject myself to, this is my problem, my fault."

Gabriella wasn't breaking eye contact, "My name is Gabriella Bolton, I took your name with the understanding that we were partners, win or lose we are in this together, you are my husband, I am your wife, my problems are yours and vice versa."

Troy shook his head continuously, "No, no I can't," he placed his body in front of the door as Gabriella tried to open it again, "I just…I can't Gabriella…no."

Gabriella was at her breaking point.

She let out a yell of frustration as she turned and stormed away, her back to him, and Troy could practically feel the anger radiating off of her. She stopped suddenly and turned to face him, "You can't keep me here like some prisoner." Gabriella stormed back up to him, purposely placing herself in his face, "I have a job, we have a son, we can't just leave him with your parents."

"You're not a prisoner, Gabriella," Troy told her, "I'm stopping you from doing something you'll regret, it's for your own…" Troy was cut off as Gabriella's hand came into contact with his cheek, sending his head to the side. It didn't really shock him, he was just caught off guard by the timing of the slap, however, he was caught more off guard when he turned his head back and suddenly found his lips occupied with Gabriella's.

He was frozen in place, steeling himself for whatever was to come. He expected Gabriella to pull back and start slapping him across the face again, unleashing her anger, resentment, betrayal, and every other emotion he had forced her to feel. He expected her to seriously injure him, because she knew how to throw a punch, she knew how to hurt, and he would not stop her, he would not defend himself, he knew he deserved it, but he would not let her out to track down Kevin. But she didn't hit him. She didn't pull away. Instead she surprised him even further by deepening the kiss, his mouth opening in response, and Gabriella gripped the back of his head with her hand.

It was a trick. That was what his brain told him, it was a trick to lure him away from the door so she could sneak out and he'd be too stunned to stop her. That had to be it. She couldn't just be kissing him. Sure, the previous night they had exchanged some sweet kisses, but he had just forbade her from leaving his apartment and told her she was basically trapped here until further notice. That wasn't worthy of kissing. But his body was rebelling against his brain. His body had missed her, had missed holding her, kissing her, touching her, and his body was the one winning the internal battle at the moment.

Her kisses were hungry and he matched her pace, his head tilting to the side to allow her better access to his mouth. Her hands detached from the back of his head, where they had intertwined with his chestnut hair, and wandered down his back, feeling the muscles of his torso clench and unclench through his work shirt at the slightest touch of her hand. Eventually they made it around to the front, running up to his tie and beginning to loosen the knot. His brain was sending out warning bells, telling him that this was not like Gabriella, telling him that right now they should be talking or yelling, not making out, warning him that this might ruin things.

But Troy had never been one for listening to his brain.

His hands moved down over the edge of her pants, his fingertips just barely grazing the top of her backside, testing the waters to see if Gabriella would flip out, pull back, and state that this was a mistake. But she didn't, quite the opposite, actually. Gabriella tossed the undone tie to the floor and brought her hands up to his shoulders, gripping tightly as she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist, not once breaking the intense kiss she had Troy locked in. His hands scooted down quickly to capture her thighs and hold her in place. Gabriella wrapped her arms tightly around his head, her lips pressed up against his in an almost bruising manner, showing no signs of anger, resentment, or even the sadness that had been mixed in all of her emotions since Troy had 'died'. Her kisses were filled with pure lust and hunger, one solitary goal on her mind, and Troy was not about to fight it.

He wasn't sure if he made the conscious decision to start moving or if his legs did it of their own admission, but before he realized it he was heading towards his rarely used bedroom, Gabriella's legs still firmly wrapped around his waist, and the two still locked in a steamy kiss. Eventually air was needed, and the kiss was broken, but just long enough for Troy to suck in a little air and reattach to Gabriella's neck, her hands moving from around his neck to the buttons of his shirt.

"I thought you were mad at me?" Troy mumbled against her skin as his kisses trailed down the smooth skin of her neck. They reached the bed and Troy lowered her onto it, taking position above her and continuing his exploration of her skin.

"I am." Troy didn't really have a chance to contemplate her response before she gripped his arms and flipped him over onto his back. Troy's eyes widened instinctively, and he momentarily paused as Gabriella reconnected her lips with his in a searing kiss, her fingers still fumbling with his buttons, "I am very," kiss, "very," kiss, "pissed with you."

She managed to undo his shirt completely and she opened it to reveal his white wife beater underneath, Troy assisting her in removing it from his arms, "Funny way of showing it." He mumbled under his breath, but loud enough so Gabriella heard.

Once his shirt hit the floor Gabriella pressed her palm to the center of his chest and forced him back onto the mattress, staring down at him with determination written all over her face, "I am your wife, you do not own me," she said firmly, Troy watching her, unsure of how to react, "you cannot tell me what and what not to do, and the fact that you think you can pisses me off. A lot." Even in the darkness of the room he saw her face soften, "But I missed you."

Troy felt her words tug at his heart, "Baby, I…"

Troy had begun to push up, but Gabriella forced him back down, the tender moment gone, "But trust me," she started, her face determined again, "I am still very mad at you."

Troy narrowed his eyes up at her. He could give in. Gabriella and Troy had a tendency to argue, never huge arguments and never resulting in bad feelings towards the other. For example, when they were designing Alex's nursery, Gabriella wanted a variety of colors, having heard that bright colors help newborns, Troy wanted the two B's**:** blue and basketball. They argued for weeks and weeks, both tried to show the other their side, and the only reason it had been resolved was because Troy came home to find Gabriella already three quarters done with painting the room. It was what they did. They fought over stupid things and one would deceive the other one in order to end the argument. That was who they were. Two hardheaded people unwilling to negotiate. And Troy would not be Troy if he gave in.

Troy lifted his hand and he grabbed her wrist, moving it off of his chest and pushing up, keeping his eyes locked on her, "You are the smartest woman I know; you're the smartest person I know," Gabriella's brows knitted together slightly, obviously confused, "I'd support you in any and everything you wanted to do in life because I know you and you have an uncanny ability of being right."

Gabriella nodded, "I know, I…"

"But you're wrong here." Troy interrupted her, "And if you thought about it logically, you'd realize that."

"I am thinking about it logically," Gabriella told him, "and I am right, and I _won't_ give up."

Troy studied her, lifting his chin slightly, obviously unhappy with her response, "And I won't give up stopping you."

Gabriella quirked an eyebrow, "Game on, Agent Bolton."

Troy sent her a look, "That's a little formal for someone on top of me."

"Oh," Gabriella said, "do all the girls that straddle you get that privilege?"

Troy pursed his lips, obviously not happy with her insinuation, "I spent the past year and a half making sure no one harmed you or Alex, I didn't have the chance to do anything else but that."

Gabriella raised her eyebrows, "Not even the hot blonde that lives down the hall?"

Troy shrugged, "I prefer brunettes."

Gabriella nodded, "Good, then you're just as horny as I am."

Troy sucked in a quick breath just before Gabriella closed her lips over his, and he completely gave up on trying to listen to his brain, bringing his hands up, one snaking under her top and the other weaving through her hair. Gabriella was pushing up the wife beater as she attacked his lips, making it blatantly obvious that she wasn't interested in going slow. He pushed up her shirt and ran his rough fingers across her smooth skin, Gabriella sucking in instinctively as his hand swept across her stomach.

Gabriella was first to pull Troy's shirt over his head, but hers followed soon after, the two pieces of cloth making no noise as they fell to the carpet. Gabriella went to reconnect their lips but was taken off guard as Troy gripped her waist and pinned her back on her back, seizing her lips as he took his position above her. Neither seemed willing to take their time, Gabriella moving her hands down his chiseled torso, her fingertips tracing the defined muscles that had only gotten better with time, while he moved his hands down to her belt, undoing it effortlessly.

The temperature of the room already seemed to have risen multiple degrees in the minute they had occupied it, and oxygen was getting more and more difficult to come by, obvious by the labored breathing of the two. Troy detached his lips from hers and moved them to the side of her neck, Gabriella tilting her head to allow him better access as he ventured down along the strap of the white lacy bra she had picked out that morning. Normally, Gabriella grabbed whatever underwear was in the top of the drawer, not at all caring whether it matched or looked sexy, the prospect of anyone seeing it not a possibility. However, her choice of outfit required her bra and underwear to be either white or nude, and her plain nude ones had been dirty. Thank heavens for small miracles.

Troy managed to undo Gabriella's pants and she helped him push them down, her hands going to his belt once the white fabric hit the carpet. Troy buried his head back into the crook of her neck as Gabriella focused on unzipping his pants, trying to stay focused as Troy pushed the strap off of her shoulder and kissed the place where it had been. She pushed his pants down to his thighs, Troy picking up where she left off kicked the pants off the rest of the way as Gabriella seized either side of his face, connecting their lips in a searing kiss. Troy's erection was blatantly obvious through the thin cotton of the boxers he was wearing, and Gabriella was feeling the tug in her lower abdomen, that she hadn't felt for what seemed like decades since she and Troy had last been in this situation, rise in anticipation.

Gabriella moaned into his mouth when she felt his hand slip beneath the lace of her bra, her eyes squeezed shut as the pleasure his caresses stimulated, bolted through her body. His fingers worked like magic as they cupped her mound of flesh, his thumb teasing her pebbled nipple, and she threw back her head when she felt his mouth descend on her other breast. "Troy…" Gabriella moaned out as she brought her hands up, weaving them through Troy's chestnut locks. She whimpered when he removed his hand, moving it down to remove the bra that had been pushed down to her stomach, before switching sides, his hand caressing one while his mouth pleasured the other.

If there was any doubt about his want for her before, there was no denying it now. Gabriella felt a hard pressure rub against her thigh, still bound by its cotton cage, begging to be freed, something Gabriella intended on doing. His head had moved more south, laying slopping kisses along her stomach, his hands already teasing her core as they danced along the white cotton of her panties. Gabriella reached down and gripped his arm, his lips detaching from her as he looked up, dark blue meeting almost black before she pulled his head to her**s**, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck while their lips smashed up against one another's, Troy thrusting his tongue into her mouth as she tightened her legs around his torso.

There were no other sounds present besides the two of them. Even if other sounds existed in or outside of the apartment, neither member of the couple would have noticed, they were too wrapped up in one another to notice anything outside of the panting, groaning, and moaning produced by their partner. Troy was the first one to take the next step, his hand trailing down her stomach to the hem of her panties, pulling them down once she freed his torso, allowing the soaked material to be tossed to the side.

Gabriella inhaled sharply when she felt a finger slip inside of her, the strange feeling of a foreign object entering her body overcoming her instinctively, but faded just as quickly as it appeared when the finger pulled back slightly, a surge of desire shooting through her veins just before it pumped back into her. Troy's head was resting in the crook of her neck, and Gabriella arched her back in response to the pleasure, not at all helping the person on top of her, "Baby, if you don't…" Troy whispered out, his voice strained, "…fuck…I'm gonna…"

Gabriella seemed to come back to her senses long enough to realize that Troy was still clad in his boxers, the only clothing left between them, boxers that were most likely extremely painful for him to be dressed in at this point. Gabriella didn't hesitate in reaching down and pushing down the material, his erection practically popping out as he kicked them onto the ground. Troy slammed his lips back up against hers, fusing them together to the point where it was difficult to determine where Troy ended and Gabriella began. Gabriella parted her legs further in anticipation, and a moment barely passed before Troy pushed himself inside of her.

Gabriella gasped, her eyes opening when she felt him slid into place, the pure pleasure that exploded all over her body at the connection being almost more then she could handle. Troy didn't move, remaining frozen in his place long enough for Gabriella to be pulled out of her daze just in time to feel Troy rest his forehead up against hers, noticing, for the first time, the sweat that was peppering their skin. "You okay?"

Gabriella could've smiled. How Troy always managed to put her needs before his own was astonishing to her, even when he was inside her after a year and a half of no sex; if it was painful, if it was too much for her, she knew he'd stop. And that made her want to proceed even more. Gabriella nodded her head, "Amazing."

Troy smiled and released a small laugh before pressing his lips to hers, this time in a much softer kiss, as he began to move his hips against hers, Gabriella matching each of his thrusts effortlessly, just the way they used to. His forearms were resting against the mattress, his hands balled into fists, as they supported his weight from crushing Gabriella whilst giving him the perfect angle to help Gabriella reach her climax. Gabriella responded by lifting her hips off of the mattress, producing grunts and groans from either person.

Troy was approaching his peak quickly, his pace increasing rapidly, causing both of them to breathe raggedly. "I love you." His soft words came out in pants, and between the groans, grunts, and moans, Gabriella almost wasn't sure she heard it, but she did, confirmed by the second she met his eyes and saw the love shining through the lust.

"I love you too." It was soft, but loud enough for him to hear.

An explosion of neurons fired in her brain as she felt Troy drive into her hard and fast one last time, pausing as he orgasmed, a shaky groan escaping his lips, "Oh…fuck…" Gabriella was too out of it to process his words, the amazing explosion still radiating inside of her as she felt the pressure of Troy's release inside of her, sending her tumbling over the edge, his name spilling from her lips.

Neither one moved. Troy didn't lift himself off of her, and Gabriella didn't try and push him off. They remained joined together, Troy's soft member still inside of her, Troy's cheek flushed up against her own cheek, his arms still supporting him, but just barely, as the two of them fought to catch their breath. Troy released a breath and Gabriella let her eyes flutter open, blinking out of the daze she had just been in, "Whoa."

Troy released a laugh, a bright smile working its way onto his features as he pulled back, looking down at her, "Whoa is right." Gabriella felt Troy push up and out of her, rolling onto his back next to her, his breathing still labored slightly, looking over when he felt a tug on his hand, realizing his and Gabriella's were locked, nail marks staining his skin from where she had dug them in during her orgasm. He lifted up their hands and kissed the back of hers, "I missed you."

Gabriella turned her head, staring over at Troy. Despite that they were in bed naked together and that they had just had sex, he wasn't talking about the sex, although she was sure he had missed that, she had missed it too, it was the underlying tone of having just missed her, and she felt the exact same way. She pushed her body over and wrapped her arm around his torso, snuggling her head into his chest, shutting her eyes with contentment, "I missed you too."

* * *

It was quiet, it was dark. The city was still sleeping with only the occasional car zipping by the quiet street that lay in front of Troy's apartment complex. He had been waking up for a while, or trying to at least, the exhaustion from the previous year and a half seeming to catch up with him all at once, his mind finally allowing him to sleep because of the person lying encased in his protective arms.

She was awake, had been since he had first become acclimated with his surroundings. Not that he was surprised. It hadn't taken long for Gabriella to drift off to sleep the previous night, and Troy probably stayed up for close to two hours just watching her sleep. Watching as she dreamed, smiled, mumbled incoherent words, just like he used to, never really realizing how much he had truly missed it. He had been woken when the bed had shifted, his half-asleep mind fearing that Gabriella was leaving, but relief washedover him when he felt her get back into the bed and snuggle back into his arms. At first she tried to go back to sleep, then she relented in taking in the various aspects of the bedroom, before finally turning her attention to Troy and watching him like he had watched her.

It took her…maybe fifteen seconds before her felt her gentle fingers rest on his shoulder, and he knew without opening his eyes what she was caressing. The scarring was fading, and with the amount of sun he got living in LA, it was almost unnoticeable, the sun's rays having tanned it to the perfect shade along with the rest of his torso. But it was still there, and it would always be there, serving as a reminder to what tore him away from his wife and child.

Troy blinked open his eyes, letting them adjust to the darkness, scanning until they fell on the brunette resting right next to him. The sheet was pulled up to cover them, resting around Troy's waist and over Gabriella's chest, her hair had somehow been freed from the half ponytail it had been tied up in earlier, her curls flowing freely down to the mattress, revealing the silky skin of her shoulder while she propped herself up on her other elbow. Her chocolate eyes were focused on his shoulder where her finger was still caressing, and she had a determined look on her face.

"No matter how much you rub it," Troy said in a soft voice, Gabriella's eyes shooting to his, "it won't go away." Troy raised his eyebrows, "Trust me, I tried."

Gabriella blinked a few times before looking down, "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

Troy shook his head, "No big deal."

Gabriella nodded her head, "Did it hurt?"

Troy nodded, "Initially, yes, but once I passed out I was pretty out of it for about a month." Troy lifted his arm and motioned to his shoulder, "But that one wasn't as bad as this one." Gabriella watched as he moved his hand down to the sheet and pushed it down a bit to reveal a similar scar to the one on his shoulder. Gabriella pushed up slightly and brought her hand down, running her tender fingers over the uneven skin, "It nicked my stomach, and they explained what they did to fix it, but it all went in one ear and out the other, I was just glad to be alive."

Gabriella nodded her head, not making eye contact, as she leaned back down on the bed and immediately snuggled into his side, wrapping her arms around his torso and hugging him as tightly as she could manage. "I always knew you'd get shot."

Troy wrapped his arms around her slender frame and pulled back to look at her, but she was focused on something else, "What?"

"With your job," Gabriella responded, "I always knew you'd get shot. I was waiting for the day when I would get that phone call from Chad saying 'he was shot, the doctors had to operate on him for seventeen hours to remove the bullet but he's stable and he got the bastard'," Troy had to smile at her imitation of Chad's voice, "I mean, I wanted to be positive and think nothing would ever happen to you, but I had to be realistic." Her face became pained as she continued, "I just…I never thought you'd…die. The thought honestly never entered my mind until Chad told me at the hospital."

"And I didn't," Troy brought his hand up, lifting her chin to meet his eyes before sweeping a strand of her hair behind her ear, "I know it seems like I did for a while, but I didn't, and I was there, watching, as soon as my body was healed enough to take it."

Gabriella nodded, "I know, and I do…I-I forgive you." She swallowed, "And I know I said that I did earlier, but this time I do mean it, under one circumstance."

Troy lifted his eyebrows; conditional forgiveness wasn't quite what he had in mind, "If this is your way to get me to let you go after Kevin…"

Gabriella shook her head, interrupting him, "No, although that is still something that needs to be discussed," she sent him a pointed look, "I…" Gabriella trailed off and Troy ran his hand up and down her bare back in encouragement, "I want you to promise me something."

"Anything." Troy said without a moment's hesitation.

"I want…" Gabriella sucked in a deep breath, "I need you to promise me that you'll let me die first." Troy quirked an eyebrow at her statement, "I mean in sixty or seventy years when the time comes for you to go towards that light, you'll let me know so that I can do it first." Troy released a small laugh at her statement but Gabriella's features remained serious, "I'm not joking, Troy, I lived through this once, and I don't think I could do it again, even if it was in sixty years."

Troy had a lazy smile on his face as he stared down at her looking up at him and waiting for an answer, "How about this?" he started, "When we're old…and Alex and any other kids we have are grown up with their own husbands, wives, and children…and the time comes for us to kick the bucket," the corners of Gabriella's mouth tugged up, "I'll make sure big guns upstairs knows we're to be taken together or not at all."

Gabriella smiled widely before hugging his torso tightly again, her head resting against his chest, "As long as I don't have to live without you again."

Troy shut his eyes and inhaled deeply before placing a soft kiss on top of her head, "That had to be the best I'd slept in over a year." Gabriella nodded her head in agreement, but remained silent, "I used to have nightmares about terrible things happening to you and Alex when I wasn't at the house, so there were many nights when I'd just sit in our room and stare at you. Listening for the faintest creak or footstep or any sign that everything was blown and you two were in danger." His eyes were looking out the window on the wall behind Gabriella, but they weren't really focused, as if he was reliving a bad memory, "Some nights I paced, others I just watched. There were multiple nights where I'd lay on what used to be my side of the bed and watch you…but just watch you…that night you lost your wedding ring was the first time I had touched you since I left."

Gabriella felt Troy suck in a deep breath and pull back, looking up at him as his eyes went to the white bandage still covering the side of her neck, Gabriella having had forgotten about it. His hand detached from its position on her back and up to the sore spot, "How are you?" he asked, caressing her neck, "And I mean really, don't give me this bullshit you gave Lexi just so you could return to work, how are you?"

"Fine." Gabriella told him, "I really am, I mean, it was bad, and I'd never want to go through that again, but at that point I was beginning to think I was crazy."

Troy cupped her cheek, pushing some hair off of her face, "I'm sorry I did it like that, it wasn't the way I wanted to do it, I expected years to pass before you would start digging into my case, because I know if the positions were reversed, it'd take me a long time before I could investigate yours." He looked to the side and shrugged, "But I suppose I should have known, you were always stronger then I was."

Gabriella shook her head, "No I wasn't." Her hand was resting on Troy's chest and Troy brought his hand up to intertwine their fingers, "After…everything happened…I couldn't look at Alex for days. Your mom, my mom, your dad, Taylor, all of them had to take care of him because it was just so hard for me to look at him." She swallowed, "And then every day he aged, he looked more and more like you, and I kept thinking to myself 'how are you going to take this when he grows up to look just like Troy?', and it just…I wasn't sure if I could've…"

"You could've," Troy inserted, "you're an amazing mother, Alex adores you."

Gabriella felt the corners of her mouth tug upwards, "That's because I'm the keeper of all his toys."

Troy smiled and nodded, "Perhaps, but it's also because you're his mother and he loves you."

Gabriella tilted her head, "He loves you too, you know."

Troy shook his head, "He doesn't know who I am…"

"But he will," Gabriella told him, "and when he does, his daddy will be his favorite person in the whole wide world."

Troy's brow furrowed slightly, "You don't think he'll resent me, do you? Like somewhere along the line when he's sixteen or eighteen and I tell him not to do something he'll throw back in my face, 'yeah, well, you abandoned me and mom…blah blah blah'…"

Gabriella giggled slightly, "Troy, he's twenty two months old, come next year I don't even think he's going to remember this."

Troy turned his head and looked up at the ceiling, sighing, "I hope not, I don't think I could take it if he hated me."

"He'll hate you," Gabriella told him, "me too, it's called being a teenager." Gabriella pulled out of his embrace and sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest as she gazed over the side of the bed, "And so will any other children we have, it's just the nature of growing up."

Troy watched as she retrieved his shirt from the floor and pulled it on, "I never hated my parents, I mean, me and my dad had our fights, but I never hated him, and especially not my mom." Troy watched as she began gathering her discarded clothing from the night before, "There's some clean clothes in the top drawer." Gabriella stopped and turned to look at Troy, sending him a curious look, "Don't ask."

Gabriella smiled as she set the clothes on the bed and opened the top drawer, "Yeah, well, did you ever think that maybe you weren't a typical teenager?" Gabriella pulled out some underwear and pulled them on quickly before pulling on a pair of Troy's navy blue workout shorts, "Not many teenagers are the most athletic, popular, good-looking, smartest, and nicest at school, most aren't even two of those things, so considering you had all of them definitely makes you abnormal." Gabriella dropped Troy's shirt onto the ground with her back facing him and pulled on a bra she had pulled from the drawer, "Or at least not typical."

Troy pushed up in bed, leaning back on his arms, "I think there was a compliment in there somewhere."

Gabriella pulled one of Troy's t-shirts over her head before turning to face him, "There was." Gabriella knelt back down on the mattress, bringing her face inches from his, "I have to go, Alex will be waking up soon and I have to get ready for work."

Gabriella pecked him on the lips briefly and Troy smiled, "Is it okay if I come by after work?"

"Of course, Troy," Gabriella told him, "it's your house too, your son, your parents, all of which are anxious to spend time with you."

Troy sent her a confused look, "My house is anxious to spend time with me?"

Gabriella sent him a playful glare as she pulled back, "And maybe," Gabriella started as she picked up her clothes and held them in her arms, "you could stay at the house tonight…if you wanted too?"

Troy smiled, "Deal." He told her, and Gabriella bit her lip, restraining the smile on her face that formed on her face, "And I actually meant _you_ had clothes in the drawers." He said eyeing his clothes she was wearing.

Gabriella nodded, "I know." She waved over her shoulder, "Bye." She strode out of the bedroom, picking up her purse before she pulled his door open and stepped outside, a wide smile on her features, matching the smile on Troy's.


	11. One Step Forward

**A/N:** Sorry it took so long to get this next chapter up. It's finals right now and I've been having some personal issues surface that deserve my full attention. Hopefully it won't take as long for the next chapter to be up. Thanks so much for all of your patience. Enjoy!

* * *

**One Step Forward...**

She felt like she was in high school again.

And not in a good way.

Oh god, why had she chosen to wear his clothes? She had a perfectly good set of clothes clutched in her arms at the moment. Sure, his clothes were more comfortable than hers, and she enjoyed being surrounded by Troy's scent, but currently Troy's parents were staying with her, and while she'd never done the walk of shame before, she had a strong feeling that she was about to.

The house was silent when she entered. No sounds of crying, no sounds of yelling, no sounds at all. Noiselessly, Gabriella shut the door to the garage, scanning the empty kitchen and living room area. Alex was obviously not awake. Sarah and Jack were tremendous grandparents, but there was no way that they'd be able to keep him silent if he was awake. But the real question was whether or not Sarah and Jack were awake. Alex wouldn't question where she was, they would. Making her way through the kitchen, Gabriella veered towards the stairs. She could take the inquisitive looks _after_ she had showered, and once she _wasn't _wearing his clothes.

"Long night?"

Gabriella inhaled sharply, freezing with her foot on the first step of the staircase. Damn, so close.

Turning her head to the side, Gabriella moved back away from the stairs as she took in Jack Bolton sitting at the kitchen table, folding up the newspaper he had been previously reading. "Jack," Gabriella began calmly, "is, um…is Alex awake yet?"

Jack shook his head, "Not unless he just woke up." He reached up and removed his reading glasses that Sarah had just recently forced him to get, "How's Troy?"

Gabriella felt her temper flare at his question, "Save the lecture, Jack." Gabriella bit out, "I know you're his father, but we're twenty seven, not seventeen."

Jack quirked an eyebrow, "I'm intrigued as to why you think you'd need a lecture."

"I don't." Gabriella responded instantly, slightly thrown off by his statement, "I-I _don't _need a lecture."

"Then why bring it up?"

"Because you're obviously down here to give me one." She told him, "There's nothing wrong with me wanting to spend time with my husband…"

"I never said there was." Jack inserted.

"And one night is not going to make a difference to Alex." Gabriella pointed out.

Jack nodded, "Kids generally don't even remember their first two years."

"Then _what's_ the big deal?"

"I came down here to make coffee." Jack explained, gesturing towards the kitchen, "You're the one getting defensive as if you're guilty of something."

"I'm not guilty of _anything_." Gabriella rebutted, "Excuse me, I have a son to wake up." Turning on her heel, Gabriella began ascending the staircase, not at all caring that she was purposely being rude to her father-in-law. Down here to make coffee? Yeah right!

"Just tell me you're being careful."

Gabriella paused, turning her head back towards Troy's father, a look of disbelief embedded on her face. Had he really just asked that? "That is _none_ of your…"

"I'm not talking about that." Jack interrupted her quickly, "Gabriella, I love Troy. I will love him no matter what stupid and idiotic things he does. But how much do you really know about that man?"

Gabriella blinked, her brain trying to comprehend what Jack was asking, "What are you talking about?"

"A year and a half is a long time," Jack started, "and he had some awful things happen to him."

"He's different," Gabriella conceded, "but he's still the same man."

"Is he?" Jack asked suddenly, standing up from the table, "Should he be? Would _you_ be?"

Gabriella shook her head, "This isn't about me."

"This _is_ about you." Jack corrected her, "This should _only_ be about you and Alex. He is your son, you have to protect him."

Gabriella lifted her eyebrows, "Are you telling me you don't trust Troy?"

"I don't know this Troy." Jack told her, "Don't misunderstand me, Gabriella. I-I can't even explain to you how happy I am that Troy is back. But things can't go back to the way they were. They shouldn't."

"So what?" Gabriella asked rhetorically, "I'm supposed to isolate him? Not let him see his son?"

"I am just telling you to be careful, Gabriella. Tread with caution." He warned, "Is there a reason why you haven't told your mother, yet?"

"No," Gabriella started, "I just…I haven't had a chance to yet."

"You're sure that's the only reason?"

"Why do you care?" Gabriella practically spit out at him, "You're _not_ my father, Jack."

"Maybe not, but you are my daughter." Jack retorted immediately, "You're the mother of my grandchild and I love you. The past year and a half..." He couldn't finish his sentence, nor did Gabriella need him to. There were no words to describe the time without Troy, "Just be careful."

"I am always careful." Gabriella told him, "I'm nothing _but_ careful."

"I agree." Jack told her with a curt nod, "And I don't think now would be the time to change that."

"Mom!"

Gabriella, who had been all too willing to continue this argument with Jack, turned at the familiar voice of her son, finding Sarah descending the staircase with a wiggling Alex, still clad in his pajamas, reaching out towards her. Sarah glanced cautiously between the pair, "Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine." Gabriella said dismissively, reaching out to take her squirming little boy, "Are you ready for breakfast?"

Alex nodded eagerly, "Pan-cakes…pan-cakes…pan-cakes…"

"Pancakes?" Gabriella teased, pinching his stomach and causing Alex to giggle before burying his head into the crook of Gabriella's neck, "You had pancakes yesterday."

", momma?" Alex pleaded, sticking out his bottom lip in a pout that seemed oddly familiar.

Gabriella sighed, "Fine, but only for my favorite little boy in the whole world." She returned back to the main floor before making her way over towards the kitchen. She purposefully ignored the looks Jack and Sarah were exchanging, choosing to instead focus on her energetic son.

And not on Jack's words that were now swirling around her head.

* * *

Doubt was an emotion that Gabriella had always been very familiar with. Sure, everyone to a certain degree experienced doubt in their life, whether it was in school or out in the real world, but most people were not as familiar with it as Gabriella was. It started when her father left. Despite everything that happened within their family of three, despite the drinking, swearing, and abuse, he was still her father. Her mother told her repeatedly that they were better off without him, but Gabriella couldn't help but wonder if it was something she had done that turned the man who used to hold her hand when she crossed the street into someone who would hurt her. And the doubt didn't stop there. Not only did she doubt her ability to be a good daughter, but she began to doubt the other areas of her life that she never believed she would. Suddenly she wasn't nice enough or smart enough. She talked too much about herself, she talked too much period. The doubt seeped into her life and took hold, never relinquishing, and for the longest time, Gabriella thought she'd always be plagued with it.

Then she met Troy.

It was funny, because Troy should've amplified her doubt. His popularity, good looks, and charming personality should've brought out the differences in the pair and made Gabriella doubt any and everything about herself. But he didn't. It wasn't that the doubt disappeared completely, but having Troy made it fade into the background. After the tumultuous divorce her parents went through, Gabriella always had a hard time believing in soulmates, but with Troy she felt like she had finally found hers. Someone who could bring out the best in her, someone who could help her overcome the doubt, and someone she could spend the rest of her life with.

The doubt hadn't returned when Troy left her, either. To be honest, at the time, she hadn't noticed it. Between working full time, raising Alex, and trying not to fall apart, she just didn't have the time to doubt herself. And now the doubt had returned, except this time, it was worse. This time, she wasn't doubting herself. This time, she was doubting Troy.

The elevator doors dinged, signaling Gabriella's arrival on her floor. The elevator was crowded, and Gabriella had to fight her way to the front in order to escape the packed box prior to the doors closing. Gabriella used to pride herself on making it to work before everyone else, prepped and ready with all of the cases she would need to pitch to Lexi once she arrived. But that had changed once she had Alex. Leaving home was a task every single morning, especially this morning. It took every ounce of energy inside of her for Gabriella to veer to the left, heading straight for her office, not pausing to speak with any of her other co-workers, and definitely not glancing behind her to where Lexi's office and Troy's desk were. Normal, she needed to act normal.

Walking into her office, Gabriella collapsed into her chair, her briefcase going on top of her desk while her purse dropped to the floor beside her. Why did Jack have to start this? What good came from Gabriella questioning who Troy was? He was the same person, he _said_ he was the same person, and there's nothing wrong with that. Right? Sure, he had been through a lot, but it showed how strong he was that he could remain the same kind-hearted, wonderful person that he was before.

_You don't know that_

"Yes I do." Gabriella retorted out loud, despite that she knew it was her head she was arguing with. She did know it. Troy could never hide anything from her.

_Except the fact that he was alive for a year and a half_.

That was for her own safety. No matter what direction you tried to spin the story, it always boiled down to the fact that someone had tried to kill Troy, and Gabriella wasn't the best actress. If he had told her, there was a possibility that she might've slipped, and if she slipped to the wrong person, they could've come after her…or worse, Alex.

_Like that matters, what Troy did was for himself and no one else._

Not true!

_It is true. He got to slink his responsibilities for a year and a half while you paid the bills and raised your son. While you were being the grown up, he got to delve deeper into his obsession with Salinas._

He is not obsessed!

"Gabriella?"

Gabriella inhaled sharply, her hand flying up to cover her heart as she stared at the occupant of the doorway in horror. She sighed rather loudly when she found Lexi standing in front of her, but her heart did not slow down, "Lexi, you scared the crap out of me."

Lexi smiled, a small laugh escaping her lips, "Sorry, are you alright?"

Gabriella ran a hand through her loose curls, "Yeah, just tired. Long night." Opening up her briefcase, Gabriella stole a glance across the office towards Troy's desk, finding him typing furiously onto his keyboard.

"Welcome to the world of parenting." Lexi said dismissively, walking forward and holding out a file, "I want you to sit in on an interview at three-thirty with Camilla Johnson." Gabriella grabbed the file, "I know you wanted to focus on that other case, but this girl is having a hard time opening up."

The file was flipped open and Gabriella scanned its contents, "Of course she is, her husband beat her." She lifted her gaze from the file, "You're going to want me to take this to court, aren't you?"

Lexi nodded, "Yes, if needed." Gabriella looked back down. Her first court case since Troy died. Sure, he was actually alive, but it still wouldn't be the same. Troy used to come and watch her argue in court, they even worked together on a few cases, and it just wouldn't be the same. "You're good in court," Lexi continued, despite that Gabriella did not up look at her, "Troy wouldn't want you to quit."

"I know," Gabriella conceded, "its just…" she paused before shaking her head, "Three-thirty, got it."

Lexi gave her a small smile, "Excellent." She pushed off of the doorway, "Do you have anything else planned for the day?"

Gabriella nodded, "I tracked down the man who used to own the funeral home, I tried calling, but he didn't answer, so I'm going to head over to his house and see if he knows anything."

Lexi frowned, "No, I'd rather you waited until I heard back from my friend."

"Lexi, I appreciate your help," Gabriella told her evenly, "but you making calls isn't going to get us the truth, it's just going to get us lied to and use up valuable favors. I need to do this and you know I do."

Lexi shook her head, "Not by yourself."

Gabriella shrugged, "Grab your stuff, we'll go."

Lexi sent her a look, "I cannot leave and you _know _I cannot leave."

Shoving the case file into her briefcase, Gabriella stood, retrieving her purse from the floor, "I'll be fine." She told Lexi firmly, "The man is 72 years old, he's not going to hurt me."

Lexi narrowed her eyes, surveying Gabriella for a moment, "_I _cannot leave." She repeated, "But I have someone who can." Spinning on her heel, Lexi made her way back towards her office, "Oh Rog-_er_?"

Gabriella's face dropped, her eyes practically bugging out of her head, "No, Lexi…wait!" Gabriella scurried after Lexi, attempting to unsuccessfully beat her to Roger's desk. About halfway to his desk, they captured his attention, and Roger eyed the two women curiously as they came to stop in front of his desk, "Lexi, we should really talk about this."

"Roger, what are you doing today?" Lexi asked sweetly, ignoring Gabriella's attempt to draw her attention, "I have a project I'd really like for you to do."

"I do not need a chaperone, Lexi!"

"You see Gabriella here," Lexi began, placing her hand on Gabriella's shoulder, "has a tendency to not listen to those who know better than her." Roger was looking between the two girls suspiciously, "And since I cannot talk her out of it," Lexi continued, "it would make me feel more comfortable if you would accompany her."

He looked confused, "Accompany her where?"

Lexi looked to Gabriella, signaling that it was her cue to divulge where she would be heading, "To a 72 year old man's house?"

Roger's eyebrows furrowed together, "Why? Are you afraid he's going to beat her up with his cane?"

"See?" Gabriella said exasperatedly, "Even _he _doesn't think I need anyone going with me."

Gabriella turned to walk away, but Lexi grabbed onto her arm and yanked her back, "Gabriella's got a son," Lexi started, "an adorable little two year old boy who would miss his mommy _very_ much if she were to end up dead."

Gabriella groaned, "Lexi, I am not going to die! He was a funeral director, he doesn't kill people, he makes dead people look alive."

"You don't know that," Lexi pointed out immediately, "you don't know anything about this guy other than the fact that he altered documents."

"Or maybe they were altered _after_ he left, did you ever think about that?"

"Then there's no need for you to go, is there?"

"Ready." Both girls' heads snapped over towards Roger's voice, finding him sliding his black suit jacket on top of his white button up shirt and green tie. "Do you want me to drive?"

Gabriella released an angry breath, obviously not happy with the situation, "This is ridiculous, it's not like I'm sixteen! And even if I was, I _still_ wouldn't need a chaperone." Gabriella turned and began stalking towards the stairs, "I'm driving!" she barked as she slammed open the door and disappeared into the stairwell.

Lexi sent Roger an appreciative look, "Thank you. I promise, she's really not as bad as she seems."

Roger sent her a smile as he passed, following in Gabriella's path, "Maybe not to you." He mumbled to himself, "But I gotta live with her."

* * *

"It wasn't my idea."

Gabriella ignored Troy's plea next to her, her hands tightening on the steering wheel as she zoomed down the Los Angeles streets towards the outskirts of town. She loved him, the turmoil within her heart proved how much she loved him, but he was the last person she wanted to be seated next to at that moment.

"I'm sorry," Troy repeated for about the tenth time, "I couldn't just say no."

"Oh, look at that…you just did." Gabriella retorted sarcastically.

Troy, who was typing something into his phone, rolled his eyes, "Am I really that bad of company?"

Despite that he kept his tone light, there was an underlying hurt. And combined with Jack's words from that morning still floating around her head, she couldn't help but feel a dull ache within her chest. They may be moving too fast, she may know nothing about what he does with his free time, or what he did with the past two years, but he was still Troy. Parts of him may be different, and Gabriella would not rest until she figured those parts out, but he was still Troy. And she loved Troy, she always would.

"She's always done this." Gabriella relented, resting her elbow on the ledge of the window before propping up her head with her fist, "When I started there it was because I was new, then I got pregnant, and then you 'died'." Gabriella lifted her hand to make air quotes, "She's always giving me partners or assigning me to easy cases that don't go to court."

Troy leaned his head back against the headrest, "But you asked to not argue in court."

"I know." Gabriella agreed.

"And, I'm not an expert," Troy started, "but you've been attacked whilst nine months pregnant and shot at. Those don't seem like easy cases to me."

"Those were just flukes," Gabriella mumbled, "the guy who shot me was a parole hearing and that other one was about as difficult of a case as I have gotten."

Troy nodded, "I see where you're coming from. Not that I want you in harm's way any more than you already are, but…I see where you're coming from."

Gabriella stole a glance at Troy out of the corner of her eye. The way he sat, the way they conversed, the way he made her feel comfortable just by being there. All of it was exactly the way Troy would have acted had the past year and a half not occurred. Maybe Jack was wrong. Maybe Troy _was_ still the same person.

"_Should he be?"_

"But you've got an interview later," he continued when Gabriella didn't respond, "domestic violence, that's not an easy case."

Gabriella sighed as she maneuvered the car around a corner, "Except I only got this case because my father beat me." She retorted bluntly, "We're here."

Despite that Gabriella's attention was on the brick house she had stopped in front of, Troy's attention wasn't so easily diverted, "Gabi…"

Gabriella held up her hand as she killed the engine, "I didn't want to talk about it before, a year and a half hasn't changed that." She pushed open her door and didn't leave room for argument as she exited the confines of the car.

The house was old. The brick looked to almost be crumbling, and the driveway had cracks in it that time and nature had eroded. Time had most definitely taken its toll on the place. "So what do we know about this guy?" Troy asked, exiting the vehicle.

"His name's Mike Watson," Gabriella informed him, heading up the driveway, towards the front door, "He owned Watson's Funeral Home up until a year ago, when he sold it and retired."

Troy nodded, following behind her, "And what exactly are we hoping to find today?"

"We're hoping to find out why a man, who told me that he would do this until he died, quit." Gabriella explained.

"And why are we interested in why he retired?"

Gabriella spun around, facing Troy, "Stop acting stupid, Troy. You _know_ why we're here."

Troy shook his head, "No, I don't. Because if we're looking for who planted the bomb, I'm pretty sure we already know that."

Gabriella turned back around, resuming her journey towards the front door, "It wasn't Kevin."

"It _was_ Kevin." Troy contradicted, "No offence, but I was _kinda_ there."

Gabriella shook her head as she ascended the stairs of the front porch, "It wasn't Kevin." She repeated, "You're just too blinded by your hate for him to see past it. He's just the tip of the iceberg."

"I know that," Troy's voice was defensive, "I know exactly who's behind this entire thing, but Kevin planted the bomb. And…" Troy continued quickly when Gabriella went to respond, "even if he didn't, I'm positive a 70 year old man didn't do it."

Gabriella pressed the doorbell, "But he might know who did."

Troy exhaled heavily, and Gabriella knew he wasn't happy with her, "I'm not blinded by hate."

"You are." Gabriella retorted immediately, "Not that I blame you."

"I have been extremely logical in this entire thing…" Troy began.

"Troy…"

"No!" Troy cut Gabriella off, "You have no idea how many times that I have had the opportunity to do to Kevin what he did to me, but I haven't." Gabriella turned towards him, "I'm not some murderer, Gabriella."

"I know that." She stated firmly, "And I'm not saying that. Look, you're right, you _were _there, but you didn't see what I saw at the hospital." Gabriella glanced down, momentarily pushing aside the bad thoughts that were attempting to rise from the place she had suppressed them to, "Justin and Kevin were…" she shook her head, "I just got the feeling that what happened was _not_ what they had planned."

Troy's brow furrowed, "What do you mean?"

Gabriella shrugged, "I don't know, Troy…it's just…they almost didn't make it out of that warehouse before it blew up. They very easily couldn't have."

He quirked an eyebrow, "You think someone was trying to kill all of us?"

"I think there's more to this than meets the eye." Gabriella turned back towards the door, ringing the doorbell again, "Mr. Watson?" Gabriella yelled into the house, "My name's Gabriella Bolton, can you open up?"

Troy was still watching her, "What else have you noticed?"

Gabriella didn't pause, "Too many things." Lifting her hand, Gabriella pounded her fist against the hardwood door, "Mr. Watson…" Her voice broke off when she felt the door give beneath her fist, the power from her knock forcing the door to slide out of its place. "That's odd."

Gabriella felt a hand on her shoulder, and she glanced over at Troy as he moved her back, "That's not good." He informed her. Troy moved in front of her and Gabriella pushed up onto her tiptoes in an attempt to see over his shoulder, "People don't just leave their doors unlocked."

"Maybe he left in a hurry?" Gabriella suggested.

Troy shook his head, "No…something's off about this." Gabriella sidestepped Troy and reached towards the knob, shoving the door open only to have Troy cut off her entry to the house, "What are you doing?"

Gabriella blinked, "Going inside."

Troy sent her a look, "You can't just _go _inside."

She rolled her eyes, "What? Now you're a law abiding citizen?"

"Gabi," Troy started, his tone filled with disapproval, "entering into a house without a warrant could get you disbarred."

"You don't tell on me, I won't tell on you." Gabriella reasoned, "Come _on_, Troy. This is the only lead we have right now!"

"Something I can help you with?"

Troy and Gabriella's heads shot over at the introduction of another voice, finding a figure standing at the base of the steps. He looked to be about thirty with a complexion similar to Gabriella's. He was tall, taller than Troy, with short brown hair and a pair of dark eyes that were currently narrowed.

Gabriella took a step towards him, "I came to speak with Mike Watson, is he home?"

The brunette's eyebrows lifted, "And you are?"

"Gabriella Bolton," Gabriella introduced immediately, reaching out her hand to shake his, "I'm a lawyer with the ADA's office." After shaking his hand, Gabriella gestured to Roger, "This is my assistant, Roger Carmichael."

"I'm Joe," he introduced, shaking Roger's hand, "I live across the street. Mike doesn't live here any more."

Gabriella's face dropped, "What?"

Joe shrugged, "No one's seen or heard from him in months. I expect he retired, but…no one knows where. We keep expecting the house to go up for sale, but it never has."

Gabriella internally groaned. Their one lead seemed to lead them straight back to square one. "He just left?" Roger asked, "With his front door unlocked?"

"It would appear so." His tone had a slight edge to it, "Is there something I can help you with?"

Gabriella shook her head, "Mike arranged my husband's funeral, I just had a few questions for him."

Joe nodded, "Ah, and you were going to look inside for your answers?"

Gabriella glanced towards the open door, suddenly finding herself at loss for words, "Um…"

"Door was already open," Roger explained, "we were just about to call the police and let them know."

Joe climbed the steps of the porch quickly and Gabriella backed up as he made his way over to the door, pulling it shut, "No need. Thanks for noticing it, though. I'll let him know you stopped by if he returns, Mrs. Bolton."

Crap. Troy's file had been tampered with, and if she remembered correctly, Mike had kept all of his files the old fashion way, which meant he most likely had to have some sort of backup in case something happened to the original. A backup that was most likely locked up inside that house. Gabriella's head snapped to the side as the sound of ringing cut through the silence, watching as Roger pulled his phone from his pocket, "Carmichael."

Gabriella looked back over towards Joe, "Yes, please tell him. It's detrimental that I get a copy of my husband's autopsy."

"That was Lexi," Gabriella looked over at Roger, "She's got the warrant, let's go get it."

Gabriella's eyebrows furrowed, but Joe beat her to the question, "Warrant?"

Roger nodded, "Yeah, the file's most likely in that house, and he's not here to dictate whether or not we can enter, so…" Roger took a step forward, moving towards the stairs, "Come on, let's go."

Gabriella was confused. Lexi hadn't requested a warrant, why would she? The guy was supposed to be cooperative and let her snoop around. Offering Joe a quick smile, Gabriella darted down the stairs after him, jogging slightly to reach his side, "What are you doing?" she hissed.

"Trust me." Troy whispered back quickly, splitting from her side to head around to the passenger door. She didn't say anything, keeping her mouth clamped shut as she unlocked the car. Trust him. Could she?

"Start the car." He ordered once her door was shut.

"What warrant?" Gabriella asked, starting the engine, "Lexi isn't getting us a warrant."

Troy nodded, "Yes, but _he_ doesn't know that." He flipped down the visor, his eyes staying glued to the mirror as Gabriella shifted the car out of park. "He's calling someone."

Gabriella's eyes widened, snapping to the rearview mirror, "What? Who?" Troy wasn't lying, Joe was still standing in his position on the front porch, watching them inside of their car, phone glued to the side of his face. "Maybe it's a coincidence?"

Troy looked over at her, "You really believe that?"

"You think that's one of Salinas' men?" Gabriella asked, "Troy, no offense, but you think you're that important that they'd station someone at an empty house when they could just destroy the file?"

Troy shook his head, "No, this isn't about me, they're hiding something in that house." He explained, "Drive!"

Gabriella didn't have to be told twice, stepping down on the gas pedal and propelling the car forward. "Hiding what?"

Troy, however, already had his phone to his ear, "Hey," he spoke into the receiver, "2562 E. Kensington, LA. I want you to get as much as you can from that. Any suspicious activity, if there's a phone, pull the records. Something's going down there and we've got to act quickly." Gabriella turned left, maneuvering the car onto the main road, "He won't ID me, but he knows my wife, name and everything." Gabriella glanced over at him, feeling a bit of guilt creep into her system. Jack may be right about him, but new or old Troy, all he ever did was try to keep her safe, and she just hoped she hadn't blown that out of the water by insisting they go to this house. "Okay, I'll be right there." He snapped his phone shut and point over towards a parking lot, "Drop me off here."

Gabriella looked at him, "Drop you off?"

Troy nodded, "I'll catch a cab, you've got your interview."

Despite her resistance, Gabriella pulled into the parking lot, "Not until three, I'll come with you."

Troy shook his head, "No. Not yet." He said firmly, "Just tell Lexi I had a family emergency and that I'll be back as soon as I can." He leaned forward and Gabriella froze for a moment as he pecked her on the cheek, "Good luck with your interview."

He moved to get out of the car, but Gabriella grabbed his arm, stopping him, "You're not going to do anything alone, right?" she asked, unable to control the panic in her voice, "You'll have someone with you…someone like Chad that you trust, right?"

Troy laid his hand on top of hers, "I'll be fine." He leaned forward and Gabriella let her eyes fall shut as he pressed a brief kiss to her lips. His mouth moved away from hers, and Gabriella felt him rest his cheek against hers, his lips at her ear, "I'll be back by the time you return from your meeting."

He pulled away and Gabriella struggled to open her eyes, "Promise?"

Troy gave her a small smile, "Promise." He didn't waste another second, flinging open the car door and exiting the car. It wasn't until he was climbing into the cab that Gabriella realized he'd promised her that before.

And last time he broke his promise.


	12. Two Steps Back

**A/N:** Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know. And it stinks because this chapter's rather on the short side, but I feel this needs to be by itself, and I hope you guys get why. This chapter's dedicated to the amazing girls over at Zac's board where we just celebrated our 100th Fanfiction thread, you guys rock!

As always, thanks to my lovely beta Abigail, without whom this chapter would have way too many repeated words. Thanks so much!

Enjoy!

* * *

**...Two Steps Back**

"I don't understand why I have to be here."

Gabriella paused in her writing to glance up at the woman currently sat across from her. Through her job, Gabriella had the misfortune of seeing the best of people and the absolute worst. Camilla Johnson was the best. She was the American Dream personified. She came from a prominent family rich in both money and history, graduated from an Ivy League university, and married someone of an equally impressive background. Her husband, a prominent business man in LA, fit into the town with his movie star good looks, and together with their three children, they were the picture of happiness.

On the outside, at least.

Three months ago, police had responded to reports of a disturbance at the Johnson family home to find a beaten and bloodied Camilla unconscious on the floor with her husband passed out in their bedroom, attempting to sleep off the alcohol. She had been taken to the hospital, he had been taken to the police station, and charges were filed. But she still loved him. She was still cooperating with the police, but every day she became more and more resistant to pressing charges. They had managed to convince the judge that her husband was a danger to his family and to be kept in jail until trial, but somehow he was still managing to get to her. It was truly amazing how much of a difference a few weeks made. No longer was she donning clothes made for supermodels. No longer was her hair styled so perfectly that you were certain she had a hair stylist with her constantly. No longer was her makeup flawless, hiding any imperfections on her face as well as her life. Camilla was broken. And the baggy clothes, stringy blonde hair, and dark circles under her eyes showed it.

"I told the police what happened," she continued, fiercely shoving a strand of hair behind her ear, "don't you guys communicate?"

Gabriella couldn't take her harsh tone to heart, she couldn't; unfortunately, Gabriella had been where she was, "Of course," Gabriella responded, "I just want to make sure everyone's on the same page, in case we need to take it to court. Now, about that night…"

"Court?" Camilla asked in a panicked tone, "You said we wouldn't have to go to court."

"I said we will _try_ not to go to court." Gabriella reiterated, "Your husband is powerful and his lawyers are sneaky. Our goal is to keep it out of court, but that option is always there."

Camilla violently shook her head, "No, no, no, no…I cannot see him, I-I-I _cannot_…"

"He has the right to face his accuser." Gabriella explained, attempting to calm her, "You'll be on the stand, he won't have direct contact with you."

"That won't matter!" Camilla exclaimed, "He'll find a way, he _always_ finds a way."

"Camilla," Gabriella said firmly, "your husband is in jail, and I am doing everything in my power to make sure he stays there."

"You think jail will stop him?" Camilla asked rhetorically, "You think a life sentence will stop him? You think _anything_ will stop him?" Despite her angry demeanor, Gabriella could see the tears swimming in her eyes, "When we met, I was dating someone else…I _loved_ someone else, and you wanna know what happened? You wanna know what he did to him?" she practically spat out, "He gets what he wants. He wanted me then and he wants me now, no prison bars will stand in the way of that."

"Camilla," Gabriella tried again, however, it was obvious Camilla wasn't listening as she bolted out of her chair, heading straight for the door, "Camilla!"

"I'm sorry, Gabriella." Camilla told her as she propelled herself into the office, making a beeline for the elevator, "You've been very kind to me, but I just can't do this."

Camilla punched the elevator button and Gabriella knew she had a limited amount of time before it arrived to convince her to stay, "Camilla, come back into the conference room, let's talk about this…"

"No." she said finitely, pushing past Gabriella to head towards the stairs.

Gabriella inhaled deeply, her brain working quickly, she had to stop her, "What about your children?"

It was against the rules, but she had no choice. Camilla would leave, she'd go back to her husband, and she'd be found buried in a shallow grave in a week. Men like her husband saw women as disposable and Camilla wouldn't be spared just because she gave him three children. Still, that didn't make what Gabriella was about to do alright. You draw from personal experiences, that was what made you a good lawyer, but you did not use personal experiences. That was the rule. You use them and they can be used against you.

It had worked, though. Camilla had stopped. "What about your children?" Gabriella repeated, her voice slow.

"What _about_ my children?" Camilla retorted, turning to face Gabriella, "My husband may have questionable morals when it comes to me, but he loves his children."

Gabriella shook her head, "No he doesn't. Men like that only love themselves."

Camilla began shaking her head, as though she couldn't take what was being said to her, "No, no…he'd _never_…"

"He would," Gabriella told her, "he will."

"He _loves_ them." Camilla's voice was beginning to rise, "Last time was a mistake, he _knows that_, he promises it'll never happen again!"

"Empty promises."

"No," Camilla screamed, "he _swore_…"

"My father swore every time!" Gabriella yelled over her, "That was what he said _every time_! He'd tuck me into bed and promise me it'd never happen again. He'd bring my mom flowers while she was icing her eye. Things would be perfect…for a while. Until he got drunk again." Gabriella could feel everyone's eyes on her, but she couldn't stop now, "You tell yourself that you'll be able to take it, but you can't. You tell yourself that you'll never give up, but you will. And once you're dead, he'll turn on your children."

"No!" Camilla practically cried.

"Yes." Gabriella countered, "You need to do this. If not for yourself, then for your children."

"I _am_ doing this for my children!" Camilla bit back, taking a step forward so that her face was inches from Gabriella's, "I'm sorry your father was an asshole and that your childhood sucked a little more than mine did, so sorry." Her tone was heavily sarcastic, "But you didn't _choose _him. I chose a monster, I chose a man who beats me to a pulp and terrifies me into staying. Last time I checked you were happily married with a kid," Camilla gestured towards Gabriella's ring, "you don't know what it's like to wake up and look at the man you love and see someone else."

"Camilla…"

"Do not lecture me on what's best for my children!" Camilla interjected, "Not being on the street is what's best for my children."

The elevator had arrived, but Camilla couldn't have cared less as she spun on her heel and disappeared down the staircase. Gabriella would have followed her, had it not been for Lexi making her presence known, "Back to work."

This snapped Gabriella out of her daze enough for her to realize that you could've heard a pin drop in the office at that point. However, once the words left Lexi's mouth, the office was in a frenzy, people going out of their way to ensure that they appeared to be focusing on their work and not Gabriella. "Gabriella!" Lexi barked, "My office, NOW!" She didn't leave any room for argument as she barreled back towards her office. Gabriella paused for a moment, purposely keeping her head down before she turned and headed in the direction Lexi had gone. She could handle the office gossip. She could handle angry Lexi. She _couldn't _handle the piercing blue eyes, despite that they were disguised by contacts, following her until the door shut behind her.

* * *

Mistakes happen. Lexi understood that. It was part of being a lawyer, sometimes you won, and sometimes you lost. But this was unacceptable in Gabriella's books. Slamming the coffee pot down into its maker, Gabriella released a heavy breath, attempting to calm herself down. She knew she'd have to push with Camilla, but she had underestimated how broken Camilla truly was. A lot had been said in Lexi's office, but it all boiled down to one thing, she had to fix this. And she _would_ fix this.

A hand came into contact with her lower back, "Gabriella…"

Jumping nearly a foot into the air, the coffee cup Gabriella had just poured for herself fell out of her hands, crashing onto the tiled floor of the break room. Gabriella shut her eyes upon the realization that it was Troy, but for some reason that didn't really make her feel any better, "Holy shit!" she cursed silently, bringing her hand up to cover her heart.

"Sorry," Troy apologized immediately, taking a step away and glancing cautiously out towards the main portion of the office, "my intention wasn't to scare you."

Opening her eyes, Gabriella looked down at the mess on the floor, "Just to give me a heart attack?" Kneeling down, Gabriella's first instinct was to begin to pick up the shards of glass. Not only in hopes to not draw attention to the pair, but also because of her need to find any distraction possible from Troy.

"Hold on," Troy instructed, Gabriella not looking up to see he was setting the coffee pot back in place, "let me get a broom." But Gabriella wasn't listening, already reaching down and beginning to gather up the pieces of the broken cup, "Gabi…"

The old nickname struck a chord with her, and before she could realize it, her finger slipped, and Gabriella inhaled sharply as she felt the glass penetrate her skin, "Shit!" she mumbled, the glass banging onto the ground as she quickly retracted her hand.

"Crap." Troy grabbed a paper towel from the counter and crouched down next to her, "Here…"

As soon as he wrapped his hand around hers, Gabriella pulled back, yanking her hand from his grasp, surprising him, "No," she stated firmly, "don't touch me." The words slipped out before Gabriella really realized she was saying them, but despite their harshness, she wasn't going to deny that she meant them. Troy's face was in shock, she could see the pain he attempted to mask, this was obviously not how he was expecting her to act following the night they had spent together. Exhaling loudly, Gabriella quickly reached down and snatched up the large portions of the broken mug, "I can't do this."

She was up immediately, barreling towards the exit to the break room, tossing the remains of the cup into the trashcan before storming out of the room. In an instant, Troy was right behind her, undeterred by the way she increased her speed as she headed towards her office. "Wait a second," Troy hissed as the pair entered her office, "_wait_!"

Gabriella spun around, yanking her elbow from his grasp, "No, no, _no_…I-I can't do this, I _can't_."

Troy was quick to shut the door behind him, gesturing for her to lower her voice, "Calm down," he coaxed, "what do you mean you can't do this? Can't do what?"

Gabriella crossed her arms over her chest, "Where have you been?"

Troy lifted his eyebrows, obviously not having expected the question, "I was downstairs pulling some files out of the archives that Lexi…"

"No," Gabriella cut him off, "not where have you been the past five minutes. Where have you been the past year and a half?" she asked, "As in specifics."

Troy glanced around the room, as though they were being watched, "This isn't the place…"

"Yeah? Well what is the place?" Gabriella burst out, "Our house? No, you don't want to talk in front of Alex, you just wanna play with him!"

Troy sent her an disbelieving look, fighting to keep his voice low, "He's my _son_…"

"Your apartment?" Gabriella continued, as though he had started talking, "No, obviously talking isn't high up on the list of things we do there, so where?"

"Gabriella…"

"When?"

"Eventually." Troy bit back, his frustration evident in his voice, "Now what is _wrong_ with you? After last night…"

"Last night was a mistake." She retorted immediately.

Troy scoffed, "A mistake?"

Gabriella nodded, "Yes, okay? We are _not _there yet."

"There yet?" he asked incredulously, "We have a child together!"

Gabriella shook her head, "No, I have a child with the man I married. And I don't _know_ that you're him because I don't _know_ anything about you."

Troy's anger faded quickly into disbelief, almost as though he couldn't comprehend the words that she was speaking, "I'm still me, Gabriella."

"Are you?" Gabriella inquired, "You've said that before, but that's the thing. The Troy I married wouldn't _be_ the same after having been shot by someone he was supposed to trust."

The silence that had settled between them didn't last long before a short knock came at Gabriella's office door. Gabriella tore her eyes away from Troy just as the door opened to reveal a concerned looking Lexi, "Is everything alright in here?" Troy spun on his heel, surprising both Gabriella and Lexi as he flew out of the room, almost knocking Lexi over as he passed. Gabriella pursed her lips, part of her wanted to stop him, but, for the first time in ten years they had known each other, an even bigger part of her wanted to let him go. "What was that?" Lexi asked, glancing at Roger, "Did you guys…oh my god, you're bleeding!"

Gabriella held up her hand, noticing that she had blood running down onto her palm. "Oh…" she said observantly, beginning to feel the sting from the cut. "Um, I guess so."

"I'll get you a bandaid." Lexi offered immediately.

"Don't bother." Gabriella said dismissively, grabbing a tissue in attempt to stop the bleeding, "I have a two year old, bandaids are a thing of necessity."

Plopping down in her chair, Gabriella began fishing through her purse. Lexi glanced over her shoulder before returning her gaze to Gabriella, "Are you sure you're alright?"

Having retrieved a Scooby Doo bandage, Gabriella pulled the tissue from her finger only to find the cut hadn't stopped bleeding yet. Her eyes moved upwards, and she didn't even attempt to hide that she was looking towards Roger's desk, his back purposely to her. "I don't know." She admitted, pressing the tissue back to its spot on her finger.

It was much deeper than she anticipated.


	13. Space

**A/N:** I'll reiterate what I wrote in the author's note of my other story. Yes, I realize it's been a long time since I've updated. Yes, it sucks, school's kicking my ass in the time department, and while my spring break is coming up which will hopefully allow for me to get a little writing done, until summer, I highly doubt updates will be anywhere close to consistent. I really appreciate you guys sticking with me, I love where I'm taking this story, and I hope you guys will too.

Rawr,  
Kirsten

* * *

He didn't come home that night.

Gabriella fiddled with the Scooby Doo bandage still resting on her pointer finger as she kept her arms wrapped tightly around the two year old shifting on her hip. Jack and Sarah were back on their way to Albuquerque, Gabriella and Alex having dropped them off at the airport that morning. They had argued, neither of them wanting to leave Gabriella, and to be honest, she really couldn't blame them. With as little as they saw one another, piled on top of having just found out Troy was alive, it was always difficult to leave. But they had to. Troy may have not told her what happened in the time he was away, or even what was occurring now that he was back, but he was right, there was danger out there, and while she was in this, they weren't. Still, that didn't make them leave any faster, nor did Troy's noticeable absence the previous night.

Gabriella expected him to be upset. If the roles were reversed, she'd be upset as well, and while the last thing she ever wanted to do was upset or hurt him in any way, she couldn't go on pretending. Pretending wouldn't take away the two previous years. Pretending wouldn't change the fact that Gabriella watched them bury who she thought was her husband. Pretending wouldn't change the nights she'd cried herself to sleep. And pretending wouldn't help them move forward. But still, she felt bad. There were better ways to handle it. Ways that didn't involve telling her husband that the night they had spent together was a mistake.

"Momma?" Gabriella blinked out of her thoughts, her eyes moving from the silver elevator doors in front of her to her curious looking son, "Why can't I play with grandpa?"

Gabriella smiled softly at the pout resting on his lips, "Grandma and grandpa had to go home, remember?"

Alex's bottom lip jutted out, "But I don't wanna go daycare."

Gabriella mimicked his pout, "I know baby, but mom's gotta work." Leaning in, she pressed a kiss to his forehead, lifting her free hand to move his hair out of his face, "You like daycare. Ms. Robinson's gonna be there. You like her, right?" Despite that he was still upset, Alex nodded his head. "It's gonna be fine, honey. And mom promises she'll come down and see you on her lunch, would you like that?" this time, Alex nodded vehemently, causing Gabriella to smile, "You're my favorite little boy in the whole world, you know that?" smiling bashfully, Alex buried his head into Gabriella's shoulder. The elevator doors dinged, signaling their arrival onto Gabriella's floor, and she adjusted Alex on her hip as the doors opened, "Mom's just gotta stop by her office and then she'll take you downstairs, alright?" she asked rhetorically as she walked out of the elevator, cutting to the left towards her office.

The office was silent, as it often was in the morning, and Gabriella wasted no time making it into her office. Setting Alex down to sit atop her desk, Gabriella peeled off her purse and laptop case. "Are you excited to have dinner with mom tonight?"

Alex nodded his head as Gabriella opened up her laptop, the screen instantly springing to life, "Good, mom's gonna make your favorite." Hearing a knock on her door, Gabriella looked up to find one of the office aid's, Carol, occupying it, "Hey!"

Carol smiled, "Hey, Lexi wants to see you." She informed Gabriella, "A pipe burst in the file room and while they salvaged what they could, they couldn't save it all."

Gabriella stood up straight, groaning, "I saved copies of most of my files…but not all of them."

Carol sent Gabriella a sympathetic look, "She divided them up downstairs and wants you to fill in what you can."

Gabriella nodded, "Alright, right after I drop off Alex."

Carol smiled, her eyes moving to the two year old that was staring at her curiously, "Hey buddy."

Alex held up the plush dinosaur he had carried with him, "RAWR!"

Carol laughed and Gabriella smiled at her son's antics, "He always turns into a dinosaur before he has to go to daycare." Gabriella reached up, running a hand through his messy hair, "Mommy's little dinosaur."

"Would you like me to take him down to daycare?"

Gabriella shook her head, "No, I'll drop him off on my way down to the filing room, thank you though."

Carol disappeared from the doorway and Gabriella looked down at Alex, the little boy picking at the skin of his dinosaur, "It's okay baby," she leaned in and pressed a kiss to his forehead, "you're gonna have lots of fun, I promise." Shutting the lid of her laptop, Gabriella seized Alex's side, lifting him down to the ground, "Come on, mom's gotta get to work." Holding out her hand, Alex slipped his tiny one into hers, allowing Gabriella to lead the toddler out of her office.

"I thought I heard that we had a visitor here today." Gabriella turned as she and Alex reached the elevator, smiling at the sight of Lexi coming towards them, her eyes focused on Alex. "How are you doing, Alex?"

"Rawr." Alex laughed out, Gabriella feeling his arm curl around her leg as he buried his head into it. He could be outgoing when he wanted to be, but for the most part he was rather shy.

"Well 'rawr' to you too!" Lexi responded, shifting her gaze onto Gabriella, "I trust you heard?"

"Yep." Gabriella quipped, jabbing the elevator button, "Should be a fun day." The doors dinged behind her, "I'll drop him off and head on down."

Lexi smiled, "Perfect, Roger will fill you in on what needs to be done." She nodded her head in the direction behind Gabriella, "Do what you can."

Gabriella spun around, finding Roger's form occupying the elevator, his eyes focused on them with a seemingly blank expression on his face. Blank to everyone but her. "Going down?"

Gabriella looked down, unable to hold his gaze, "Um, yeah." Grasping Alex's shoulders, she led him into the elevator with her, "Second floor." Roger pressed Gabriella's floor, causing the doors to close, and the elevator to begin moving. Turning her head, Gabriella looked towards Troy, hoping to find him staring back at her, and feeling a pang when she found him staring straight forward as though she was any other person.

Turning her head back to the front, Gabriella released a breath, "I'm sorry, alright?" she said in a hushed voice, "I never meant…"

"You meant every word." His voice was like ice, slicing through her heart. "Don't insult my intelligence by telling me differently. And don't use our kid to get me to talk to you."

"I didn't…" The elevator doors opening interrupted Gabriella, cutting any opportunity for the pair to have a conversation short as a couple of people made their way into the elevator between Gabriella and Roger.

Feeling a tug on her jacket, Gabriella glanced down to find Alex staring up at her curiously, holding up his toy, "Carlos wants to ride."

Gabriella tried to blink away her pain in an attempt to hide any sort of discomfort from Alex, gripping under his arms to lift the boy up onto her hip, "Carlos wants a ride?" Gabriella asked rhetorically, "He's an awfully demanding dinosaur." Once settled in, Alex tucked his head underneath Gabriella's chin, snuggling close to her. Gabriella smiled softly down at him, "Did Carlos just want a hug?"

Alex nodded his head, "Rawr."

Gabriella laughed quietly, pressing a kiss to his forehead, "I love you too, baby." Feeling the elevator stop, Gabriella glanced up at the panel to find that they had reached her floor. Gabriella began pushing through the others in the elevator, making her way to the front, "I'll see you downstairs."

She didn't expect him to answer. Troy was supposed to be Roger right now, and being Roger and yelling at Gabriella in an elevator in front of her son and two witnesses would not go over well. But she wished he'd say something. As she made her way out of the elevator, pausing to glance back inside as the doors closed, she wished he'd say anything.

Because his silence was ten times worse than any words he could ever say.

* * *

Gabriella slammed the door to the staircase open, her heels clicking violently against the concrete floor that covered the basement, echoing inside the almost empty room, "You son of a bitch!"

Troy grinned, a sarcastic laugh escaping his lips as he continued to sort through the damp file folders sitting on the table in front of him, "You do know that statement technically insults my mother, right?"

Gabriella came to stop in front of the table he was working at, "In front of our son? Really? In front of Alex?"

"You're the one that brought him to work." Troy pointed out, "You're the one that insisted on speaking to someone that has no interest speaking to you."

"Grow up, Troy!" Gabriella practically spat out, "You're not eighteen. You can't get pissed at your girlfriend and storm out; it doesn't work that way anymore!"

"I know I'm not fucking eighteen!" Troy countered, "And I'm not having this conversation with you. You're files are over there," he extended his arm, pointing to a group of boxes, "most of them are intact and you can work on the rest elsewhere."

Gabriella shook her head, "No, we're doing this now, we need to talk."

"Last time we talked, we fucked," Troy shot back, "and that didn't work out so well for you."

Gabriella turned her eyes towards the ground, "Look, I'm sorry about that. Yesterday was not a good day for me…"

"Sucks for you, files are over there." Grabbing a pile of papers in front of him, Troy turned, stalking away in the opposite direction.

"Troy don't be like this." Gabriella pleaded as she followed him, "In the past couple of days, I just found out that my husband is alive and that all the people I thought I could trust, I can't." Troy veered to the left, and it was obvious to Gabriella that he didn't have any destination in mind, he was simply just trying to get somewhere where she wasn't. "Talk to me, Troy. If we're gonna work through this…"

"I don't wanna talk to you!" Troy burst out, wheeling around to face Gabriella, "I don't really know how many different times I can say this before you actually realize that I. Don't. Want. To. Talk. To. You." Gabriella opened her mouth to speak, but Troy quickly cut her off, "No, don't speak. Right now, the last thing I want to do is hear you talk. Right now, I don't even wanna see you. Right now, I wanna quit just so I don't have to work with you. But I can't." Troy was angry, there was no doubt about that, but despite his anger, Gabriella could see the pain and hurt swimming in his eyes, "Because next month, or next week, or maybe even tomorrow…I will want to see you, and talk with you, and be with you. But right now, I can't." spinning around, Troy stalked back over to his work table and slammed the files back to where he had picked them up from, "I just can't."

Blinking away the tears that were threatening to spill, Gabriella swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "So…you want space?"

Releasing an angry breath, Troy didn't dare look over towards Gabriella, "I want you to go upstairs and do your job." He said in an even voice, "I want you to take care of our son." His eyes moved over towards her, sending her a purposeful look, "I want you to keep your nose out of places it doesn't belong. And yeah…" he paused, waiting for Gabriella to lift her eyes to meet his, "I want a little bit of space."

Gabriella felt her lower lip begin to tremble, and she knew it was only a matter of time before the tears began to fall, "Okay…if that's what you want." Dropping her chin, Gabriella made a beeline for the elevator, making sure to avoid any sort of eye contact with Troy as she jabbed the up arrow, praying that the elevator came quickly.

Troy sighed, plopping down into a chair, "You can't go upstairs crying."

Gabriella sniffled, bringing her hand up to wipe away the few tears that had escaped, "I'm not crying." She said unconvincingly, "Why would I be crying? Everyone said we'd never make it. I can't say I wasn't warned."

Troy propped his head up with his hand, his middle finger and thumb massaging his temples, "Gabriella…"

"No, it's fine." Gabriella said quickly, "I'm fine." Watching the doors open, Gabriella wasted no time stepping inside and pressing her floor, "But, for your information," Gabriella started, stopping the doors from closing with her hand, "I didn't bring Alex to work to use him. I brought him because he goes to daycare here." Pulling her hand away from the doors, they instantly began to shut, "You'd know that if you had been here." She tacked on just before the doors closed, not even attempting to hide the disdain in her tone.


	14. Sorry

**Sorry**

"Mom, you need to calm down."

"_CALM DOWN!?!"_ Gabriella flinched, moving the phone she had propped between her head and shoulder away from her ear in an attempt to shield her eardrums slightly from her mother's screeching, whilst pausing in her stirring of the chicken pieces she was preparing for dinner. _"I just came from Jack and Lucy's where I expected to receive a full report on how my daughter and grandson are doing, and _what_ do I find out?"_

"Mom," Gabriella placated, glancing over her shoulder to ensure that Alex was still perched on the floor of the kitchen, engrossed in destroying an imaginary village with his dinosaur and monster truck, "I was going to call…"

"_Troy is _alive_?"_ Maria practically screamed through the receiver, this time attracting Alex's attention as he looked up towards his mother curiously, _"Troy is alive and you did not call me?"_

"Mom, it's complicated." Gabriella pushed the pan forward off of the burner, and opened one of the cabinets to withdraw a plate, "Troy still hasn't explained everything to me. Lucy and Jack wouldn't know if they hadn't been here. It wasn't a matter of me playing favorites; it was a matter of coincidence."

"_This is not smart."_ Maria said in a hushed tone, as though someone was listening, _"Honey, this is _not_ safe."_

"Mom…"

"_You should pack up Alex and come to Albuquerque,"_ Maria interjected, _"you can take some time off of work, they'd understand."_

"_Mom_…"

"_He's been gone for over a year,"_ Maria tried to reason, _"you don't know what happened; you don't even know who he _is_ anymore."_

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Gabriella turned and walked over towards the table, setting down Alex's plate, "He's still Troy, he's still my husband, and he's still Alex's father."

"_Technically…"_

"Not technically, mother!" Gabriella snapped back, "Actually. I already listened to Jack and Lucy and all it landed me was my husband not talking to me. He just spent the past year and a half running. Why? From who? I don't know, maybe Troy doesn't even know, but I do know that he expected to return home to a family that would support him, not doubt him."

"_Gabi…"_

"No mom!" Gabriella interrupted, her voice wavering as she felt tears brimming her eyes, "All he wanted was support. All he wanted was us, and I…I…" she trailed off, releasing a sigh, "I let him down."

"_Gabi…"_ Maria started again, her tone soft, _"I should call…"_

Gabriella's head snapped up as a knock sounded on the door, cutting through the tension of their conversation. Welcoming the interruption, Gabriella reached up, wiping away a stray tear that had escaped, "No mom, don't call anyone." She sniffled out, "I'll keep you updated, I have to go." Not giving her mother the opportunity to respond, Gabriella ended the call.

Setting the phone down on the table, Gabriella glanced over towards Alex as she made her way towards the front door, "Baby, time for dinner."

"Okay momma."

Reaching the door, Gabriella didn't hesitate in yanking it open. She wasn't expecting anyone, but it wouldn't be that odd for Chad or Taylor to drop by; however, the bubbly brunette standing in front of her was, perhaps, the last person Gabriella expected to see on her doorstep. "Abigail?"

The petite brunette grinned widely, clutching tightly to the tote bag she had under her arm, "Hi, Mrs. Bolton, sorry I'm late. I had a few more things to do then I originally anticipated. Has Alex already eaten?"

Gabriella was drawing a blank. Abigail Jenson was an undergraduate student at USC that Gabriella often used as a babysitter for Alex when she had work functions, but she had no reason to be here this evening. "Late?"

Abigail nodded, "Yeah, you're secretary called me and told me about your work function, thingy. I hope I'm not making you late."

"My secretary?" Gabriella inquired, "I don't have a secretary."

Abigail frowned, "He said he was from your office…Ronnie…Robert…"

"Roger?" Gabriella added.

"Yes!" Abigail confirmed, "Roger called and said you needed a babysitter."

Gabriella opened her mouth, prepared to tell Abigail that she had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, when a movement in the street behind Abigail caught her attention. Perched across the street, inside one of the few cars parked on the side of the road, sat the figure of her husband, staring at her through the glass of the driver's side window. She wasn't sure how long he had been there, after what had happened today at work, she hadn't even bothered expecting that he would come home, however, there he was.

"Mrs. Bolton?"

Snapping herself out of her daze, Gabriella focused on the girl in front of her, "Right, of course. My…function." Stepping back, Gabriella allowed Abigail to enter her house, quickly closing the door behind her. "Alex was just sitting down to eat." Gabriella began instructing, walking back over towards where Alex was perched in his booster seat, picking off pieces of chicken from the plate she had made for him. "He already has his chicken, and carrots and apple slices are in the refrigerator."

Abigail nodded, stopping behind Alex, "Hey buddy, how are you doing?" Alex grinned up at her, his mouth stuffed full of chicken, "Be careful, small bites, remember?"

Pulling a black button up sweater on over her white tank top and jeans she had been wearing, Gabriella grabbed her purse and keys, "Thank you for doing this on such short notice."

Abigail took a seat next to Alex, placing her bag on the table, "No problem, I'd just be sitting in my dorm room doing homework if nothing else, and I'd much rather do my homework in the company of this handsome fellow." She said, tapping Alex on the nose.

Gabriella smiled, stopping next to Alex and giving him a kiss on the cheek, "Bye baby, mom won't be long." Pulling back, Gabriella began making her way towards the front door, "You remember where his PJs are and everything, right?"

Abigail nodded, "Yep."

"And I'll have my cell phone in case you need me."

"Got it."

Reaching the door, Gabriella yanked it open, "I won't be out late." It took her less than a minute to reach the passenger side of Troy's car, and before she could talk herself out of it, she climbed into the passenger seat of his car.

Troy didn't say anything once she had settled into her seat, choosing instead to remain silent as he shifted the car into drive and accelerated out of the subdivision. She didn't know where they were going, and honestly, she was too afraid to ask. The fact that he was there was a good sign, but the fact that he was still not initiating conversation wasn't, and rather than choosing to face the situation head on, Gabriella chose to buckle her seatbelt as quietly as she could and wait for Troy to make the first move.

This was going to be a long drive.

* * *

Halfway to their destination, rain had begun to blanket the town as Troy led them down streets that were unfamiliar to Gabriella. Troy still had not spoken a word, but Gabriella was glad that he at least didn't _look_ mad, keeping his face relatively impassive throughout the drive. It took a little over twenty minutes for Troy to bring them to their destination, and Gabriella honestly had no idea where they were as he shifted the car into park. It appeared to be some sort of wooded area in the middle of nowhere. It was the type of place where two teenagers would come to make out when they didn't want to be caught by their friends or parents. It was the type of place Gabriella remembered the pair of them frequenting in high school.

"Where are we?" Her question was soft, but within the silence of the car, it felt overwhelmingly loud.

Troy released a sigh, "Just a place I stumbled upon, it's great for meeting people when you don't want to be followed or seen."

Gabriella swallowed, "Some place where no one can hear the screams?" She meant it as a joke, but the shaking in her voice didn't go unnoticed by Troy.

"I'd laugh if I thought you meant that as a joke." Troy said evenly, "But I'm pretty sure you honestly think I brought you out here to kill you."

Gabriella shook her head, "No, I don't."

"That's not what your tone says." Troy pointed out, still not turning his head to look at her, "Your tone says you're afraid."

"Of _course_ I'm afraid," Gabriella shot back, "do you need me to list the reasons as to why I am afraid? Besides the fact that someone wants you out of the way, that Kevin is behind this whole thing," she ticked off on her fingers, "that someone _attacked_ me, and, to top everything off, my husband isn't talking to me."

"Obviously, I am," Troy retorted, "unless you don't think I'm your husband anymore?"

Gabriella groaned, crossing her arms over her chest and turning her attention out towards the window, "You're impossible."

"_I'm_ impossible?" Troy echoed, "You're the one that called us a mistake!"

"Not us, what we did." Gabriella defended, "We weren't there yet…"

"You keep saying that!" Troy burst out, "What does that even mean?"

"It means we weren't ready," Gabriella explained, "it means all the stuff you're about to tell me should've been discussed _before_ we jumped into bed together."

Troy released a heavy breath, "What makes you think I'll tell you anything?" He asked bitterly, "All this time I was worried Alex would use my absence against me, I never thought you would."

Gabriella looked down in shame, staring at her hands that were almost white with how tightly they were squeezing one another, "I'm sorry, Troy. I shouldn't have said that. I'm just…I'm just…"

"You're just what?"

"I'm just scared." Gabriella confessed, "You won't tell me what's going on. You make it sound as if I need to be suspicious of everyone I know…"

"I'm trying to be careful," Troy reasoned, "I'm trying to protect you. I can't lose you. I-I…you have no idea how…" Troy trailed off as Gabriella's head snapped over to him, "Sorry." Troy mumbled out, dropping his gaze.

Gabriella sighed, adjusting slightly in her seat to allow for her legs to tuck underneath her, "Sorry for what?"

"A lot of things." Troy admitted, "But most prevalent to this conversation: I am sorry I left. My intention was never to hurt you, Gabriella. You have to believe me."

"I do." Gabriella answered simply, "And I'm sorry I didn't support you. You left to protect us and when you came back, all I did was doubt you."

Troy leaned his head back against the head rest, "I can't say it wasn't warranted. We should've talked, I know that, I guess I just missed…being with you…being close to you…you know?"

Gabriella nodded, "I do."

"It never occurred to me that I'd be different." Gabriella wasn't even sure if he was talking to her anymore, but she listened all the same, "But you're right, people don't go through things like that unchanged."

Snaking her hand over towards his, Gabriella intertwined their fingers, giving his hand a squeeze of support, "Change isn't necessarily a bad thing, Troy. I'm different, too."

Turning his head towards her, Troy studied Gabriella for a moment, "Do you think things will ever go back to the way they were?"

"No." She replied honestly, "But I think we've got a good chance of making them better."

Troy felt a small smile tug at the corners of his lips and he couldn't help but feel as though the muscles were sore, as though he hadn't smiled genuinely in a while, "You really wanna know what happened?"

Gabriella nodded, "Yeah, I really wanna know what happened."

Shutting his eyes, Troy turned his head back to stare out at the gloomy trees surrounding them from all sides, "I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"You kissed me," Gabriella started, drawing from the last memory she had before her world practically ended, "told me you loved me. Promised me that you'd be home soon so that you could get lucky."

This time, Troy did smile, the memory surfacing in his head, "I broke a lot of promises, didn't I?" Gabriella didn't answer, choosing instead to stroke the back of his hand encouragingly, "You left," he started, "and I met up with Kevin and Justin…" Gabriella sat back, listening as Troy recounted some of his darkest days and darkest moments, never interrupting, never reacting, with only the occasional squeeze of his hand here and there. Troy didn't need a commentary, he didn't need to be told that he did this or that wrong, he needed support. And this time around, she would give it to him.


	15. Fight

**A/N:** Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait, school was majorly hectic towards the end of the semester, and along with some personal stuff I've been dealing with, writing sort of got pushed to the back for a few weeks. I am, however, on summer break now, so hopefully (barring that my job decides to work me to death) I can update more frequently now. You guys are the absolute best, and I'm sure school would've driven me insane now if it weren't for your amazing reviews, so thank you, and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

"I don't think this is a good idea."

Taylor arched one of her eyebrows, not looking at her worried husband, who had perched himself against the counter behind her, keeping her eyes locked on the stew she was stirring in front of her, "I think it's a great idea." She countered, glancing towards the clock to see that it was almost six-thirty.

Chad sighed, "Tay, I don't get the idea that he goes out much, aside from his house…"

"And Gabriella's work where he disguises himself as a lawyer," Taylor pointed out, pushing the stew off of the burner and checking on the rice, "which _still_ doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me."

"He's a secretary," Chad corrected as Taylor turned to face him, "and that's different, he's protecting her."

"Except for the time she was attacked," Taylor pointed out, "and all those nights she cried herself to sleep because she _thought_ she had lost her husband."

Chad rolled his eyes, "See, this is why we shouldn't have him over for dinner."

Taylor shook her head, "I'm fine."

"Really?" Chad asked sarcastically, "Do you still want to strangle him?"

"Of course." Taylor said instantly, no hesitation in her voice.

"See!" Chad exclaimed, "Taylor that's _not_ normal."

"No, what's not normal is faking your own death." Taylor countered, "What's not normal is abandoning your wife and three-month-old child. I think wanting to strangle him is the least of what I should be feeling right now."

"Gabriella doesn't feel that way," Chad told her, "you talked to her yesterday, she said that they are back on speaking terms and that Troy's spending every evening at home with Alex."

"Well Gabriella's naïve." Taylor quipped, "And it's my job, as her best friend, to see what she doesn't see. I understand your resistance, though. Troy being your best friend and all."

Chad sent her a look, "Don't."

"Unless," Taylor continued, turning back towards the stove, "of course, he _isn't_."

"_Don't_."

"How come you've barely seen him since he's been back?" Taylor questioned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Because he's with his wife and child." Chad explained simply.

Taylor scoffed, "Chad, he called you on our honeymoon."

"He was going through a rough time," Chad defended, "he and Gabi had broken up."

"You called him on his honeymoon."

"The Lakers were in the finals!"

"Admit it," Taylor shot back at him, "admit that you are just as pissed off at Troy as I am."

"Shut up, Taylor."

"Admit that you are mad at him," Taylor continued, ignoring Chad, "not just that he walked out on Gabi and Alex, but that he walked out on you."

"FINE!" Chad yelled, "I'm pissed off, alright? He shouldn't have left his child, he shouldn't have left his wife, and he shouldn't have left me, but I can't be mad at him."

"Why?" Taylor asked, her voice rising to match his, "Why the hell not?"

"Because I can't blame him." Chad said bluntly, "Because he was doing what he thought was best for his family. Maybe it was stupid, maybe it only made things worse, but he was doing the best that he could and I can't blame him for that. Can you?"

"Yes," Taylor retorted immediately, "yes I can."

The couple was cut off by the doorbell ringing throughout their home. Chad's nostrils flared as he released a heavy breath, "Finish dinner, I'll get the door."

Taylor rolled her eyes as she turned back towards the stove, "That's right, grovel at Troy's feet. Maybe next time Troy leaves, he'll convince you to go with him."

Biting back his response, Chad did his best to put the fight out of his mind as he headed towards the door.

* * *

Silence wasn't something Gabriella was used to. She worked in a fast paced environment where she often craved alone time to plan out her latest case or to work out her strategy on her current one, but it was a rare occasion that she would actually get any. At home, it was even less common for silence to linger. Alex had been a rather quiet and well behaved baby, but as soon as he had learned to walk and talk, that had been thrown out the window. Now, Gabriella was lucky if she could get him to go to bed on time, and usually by the time silence was able to take over her house, Gabriella was far too exhausted to enjoy it. Taylor and Chad's house was no different. Whether or not Alex was with her, when Chad, Gabriella, and Taylor got together, silence wasn't something that existed inside of the Danforth house. Or at least it hadn't been before Troy was thrown back into the equation.

Each couple was positioned on one side of the table, all with their heads down while they picked at the remains of their dinner. Very few words had been spoken, most of them by Gabriella. Chad and Taylor not muttering a single word to each other, and as of yet, Taylor refusing to even acknowledge Troy.

Glancing between Chad and Taylor, Gabriella bit her lip softly. She wanted to say something, but she hadn't a clue as to what their fight was about. Turning her gaze onto Troy, the pair shared a look. She was learning how to read his hardened exterior. He was better at holding a blank look, and Gabriella could tell he was trying to mask his emotions in his eyes, but she still managed to observe subtle reactions. And she could tell from his look, he was just as puzzled as she was.

Returning to Chad and Taylor, Gabriella set down her fork, "Dinner was wonderful, wasn't it Troy?"

Troy nodded, "Yes, perfect."

"Hardly," Taylor snorted, "the noodles were overdone and the sauce burnt."

Chad smiled a tight smile, "What she means is thank you."

Taylor dropped her fork, the metal clinking against the glass of her plate, "Don't say what I mean, _I'll_ say what I mean." She stood up abruptly, lifting her dirty dishes, and stalked off towards the kitchen.

Chad shut his eyes, bringing his hand up to massage his temples. Gabriella leaned in, "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," Chad told them, dropping his hand, "this time it's just her being a bitch."

"I can hear you, you know?" Taylor called out from the kitchen.

"That's the idea, _honey_." Chad shot back sarcastically.

Taylor groaned and Troy glanced between Gabriella and Chad as she began stomping towards them, "Should we leave?"

"Yes," Taylor said bluntly, staring at Troy for the first time since he had entered her home, "you should most definitely leave."

Troy lifted his eyebrows, Gabriella's eyes widened, and Chad bolted up from where he was sitting, "Taylor. Kitchen. _Now_."

Taylor ignored him, continuing to stare at Troy, "I'm not really sure how many different ways I can make this clear, we do not want you here."

"And by we she means she." Chad amended.

Taylor's gaze shot to Chad, "For god's sake, man up, Chad."

"For god's sake, grow up, Taylor." Chad fired back.

"At least I'm being honest, at least I'm telling him how I feel and not hiding…"

"I'm not hiding _anything_."

"You _said_ you were pissed at him."

"I _said_ I can't be mad at him." Chad corrected, "You haven't the slightest idea what he's been through, what _we've_ been through."

"That's not my fault," Taylor argued, "you've shut me out. You won't even _talk_ about work anymore…"

"That's because it's none of your damn business." Chad retorted, "So stay out of it!"

"No," Taylor said firmly, "I'm your wife, Chad. For better. For worse. You don't get to cut me out!"

Chad and Taylor's argument was brought to a screeching halt by the sound of the front door slamming shut. The noise drew the arguing pair's attention onto their kitchen table where only Gabriella now sat. Guilt instantly began seeping in as Taylor watched her friend continue to stare at the shut door as if she was waiting for Troy to come back through it.

"I hope you're happy with yourself." Chad said bitterly, "I hope you're truly proud of what you just did."

Taylor turned back towards Chad and sent him a glare, "Don't you dare blame this on me."

"I _told_ you this was a bad idea…"

"I'm going home." Taylor and Chad looked over as Gabriella rose from her chair, gathering her purse, "Call me when my best friends decide to return because you two are not them."

"Gabriella," Taylor started, following her as she made her way towards the front door, "Gabriella, you need to stop and think."

Taylor grabbed Gabriella's wrist, but she quickly snapped it out of Taylor's grasp, sending the dark skinned woman a stony glare, "No, _you_ need to stop and think."

Taylor shook her head, "Look, I know you think you love him…"

"I don't _think_ I love him, I do!" Gabriella shot back at her, "That is my husband, that is Alex's father!"

"That _was_ your husband," Taylor corrected, "that _was_ Alex's father. And then he left. And was gone for a year and a half doing god knows what…"

"He told me what happened." Gabriella interjected, "He explained about Kevin."

"And did he explain what took him so fucking long?" Taylor asked bluntly, "Did he explain why he left you to mourn the loss of your husband and raise a child on your own while he 'healed'," she lifted her hands to emphasize the air quotes, "for a year and a half."

Gabriella shook her head, "It wasn't safe…"

"Bullshit!" Taylor retorted, "Take off the rose tinted glasses, Gabriella. It's no safer now than it was a year ago, so what took him so long?" Taylor took a step forward and pointed towards the door Troy exited through, "That man abandoned you and your newborn child for a life with no strings and he is back now for a reason."

"Yeah, to protect me!" Gabriella countered, "To stop my attackers. To get back my wedding ring!" Gabriella pointed an accusatory finger at Taylor, "When all of you thought I was crazy, _he_ didn't let me fall to pieces."

Taylor shook her head, "I didn't think you were crazy."

"Of course you did,_ I_ thought I was crazy." Gabriella spat back, "Let's not pretend for a moment that this is about him leaving or about him coming back, this is just about _him_."

Taylor sent Gabriella a look, "That's ridiculous."

"No, you're ridiculous." Gabriella started, "Ever since day one at East High, you _never_ liked Troy. Even when he and I started dating. Even when you and Chad started dating! He was always the lunkhead basketball boy who stole your best friend and boyfriend away from you. He was nothing more than a nuisance to you and you were glad to be rid of him."

"I was not!" Taylor argued, "I missed him, I _loved_ him!"

"You tolerated him," Gabriella corrected, "you never loved him. Even when he tried so hard to please you, to impress you, you _always_ dismissed him, and you need to get over it, Taylor." Gabriella told her finitely, "Get over it, or get over me. You want me to choose between my best friend and husband? Fine!" grabbing onto the doorknob, Gabriella yanked open the front door, sending her former friend an icy glare, "I choose him."


	16. Like Father, Like Son

One ring.

Taylor sighed into the mouthpiece of her cell phone she had pinned to the side of her head, hoping against all hope that this phone call ended differently from the six other phone calls she had placed to the same number that day.

Two rings.

The hospital was buzzing, and upon arriving that morning, Taylor had found herself scrubbing in on a number of cases. In fact, in approximately five minutes, she was due in the OR; however, she needed to make this call first.

Three rings.

This was starting to get ridiculous. Okay, yes, last night had not been ideal. Maybe, perhaps, Taylor let her get the best of her, but Chad and Gabriella had to be fooling themselves if they thought something like this wouldn't eventually happen.

Four rings.

"_Hi, you've reached Chad Danforth, I'm unavailable…"_

Ending the phone call, Taylor slipped the phone back into the pocket of her baby blue scrubs, ignoring the pain in her heart at the lack of contact. She got it, she really did. The silent treatment Chad had been bestowing upon her since dinner the previous night was enough. She got it. He was mad, but this was so unlike him. One of the things she both loved and hated about their relationship was their knack for fighting. They always said the wrong things, they always ended up regretting half of their words later, but they never walked away from a fight angry.

Or at least they didn't used to.

That was what this was really about. Despite the fact that she was upset about Troy leaving Gabriella only to waltz back in as though nothing happened, she was less upset about the impact of Troy leaving on Gabriella and more about its impact on Chad.

At the time, Taylor didn't notice the change. Troy was dead, Taylor had Gabriella and Alex to worry about, and at the time, Chad had seemed fine, considering. Sure, he was wounded. He had lost his best friend, he had faced death, Chad would have to be numb to not be changed by the experience, but from what Taylor perceived…he was fine. Chad was not fine. And Taylor was ashamed that it took almost a year for her to notice.

To be fair, most wouldn't have noticed the change. Long hours and an erratic schedule came with the territory, and considering how much she worked, she wasn't one to lecture him on it. But it was different now. He used to have no issues with revealing the cases he was working on with Troy. He used to come to the hospital to have lunch with her. He used to take her out on dates. He used to tell her he loved her every night. He used to act like he was looking forward to spending the rest of his life with her. Now…he didn't.

Now he kept his cases locked up at work, changing the subject any time she inquired about them. Taylor couldn't remember the last time Chad made it to the hospital to have anything with her, in fact, they were lucky if they managed to see one another before bed every night. They didn't laugh together anymore. They didn't talk about their lives with each other anymore. Taylor doubted whether Chad even had a clue as to what specialty she had chosen, and the worst part was that she was certain he didn't care. They had gone from being high school sweethearts, two people who could survive the time and distance associated with college and still be blissfully in love, to two people who paid a mortgage together.

And it was all because of Troy.

Of course it wasn't Troy's _fault_**, **per se. Chad and he hadn't entered into their friendship knowing they'd eventually become like brothers to each other, nor had it been his fault that he had had to leave, but it _had_ been his fault that he had stayed away for a year and a half. Sure, Taylor was willing to admit there were some things she was unaware of in this whole mess that lead to him being kept from returning, but not for a year and a half.

"Taylor!"

Snapping out of her thoughts, Taylor turned to find a petite blond approaching her, currently in the process of pulling up her hair. "Carol," Taylor started with a smile, greeting one of the attending surgeons she worked with, "hey."

Carol smiled brightly as she approached, "Hey, I've been looking for you everywhere…you're still scrubbing in with me on this, right?"

Taylor nodded, "Dr. Barren just had four surgeries and wanted me to scrub in on all of them."

Carol smiled as Taylor rolled her eyes, "Well aren't you just Ms. Popular-Resident?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Taylor sighed, "I guess."

Carol frowned, "What's wrong?"

Leaning her head back against the wall, Taylor fixed her eyes on the ceiling tiles, "Chad and I had a fight."

Comprehension dawned on Carol's features and she nodded her head, "The work thing? It's always the work thing…my husband and I used to fight over it all the time."

Taylor shook her head, "Not a work thing…but I wish it was." Moving her eyes away from the ceiling and focusing her attention onto her friend, Taylor paused for a moment. Carol Kendrick was the picture of what every surgeon wanted to be like. Not only was she an accomplished surgeon but she was married to her college sweetheart and had three wonderful children. She was the perfect example of a doctor managing to survive the craziness that was their internship and residency years while still maintaining a personal life. But it wasn't always that way. When Taylor had been an intern, Carol a resident, she had a vivid memory of Carol's husband storming into the hospital and leaving their then two children at the nurse's station with divorce papers. But they had gotten through it. It wasn't easy, but they had gotten through it and last year they welcomed their third child into their family.

Carol placed her scrub cap over her hair, her arms lifting to tie it in place, "What?" she asked, noticing Taylor's staring.

Taylor sighed, shaking her head slightly, knowing that there was no point to the question she wanted to ask, but needing to ask it anyways, "How do you do it?"

Carol blinked, continuing to tie her scrub cap on, "How do I do what?"

"Have the perfect family…" Taylor asked in exasperation, "…the perfect children…the perfect husband…the perfect life and still do this job?"

Carol's brow furrowed as she watched Taylor's head drop, "Taylor…what's wrong?"

"I keep trying to make Chad happy," she explained, keeping her head down, "I keep trying to hold our marriage together…but it's just not working."

Taylor felt Carol place a hand on her back, but the steady strokes that should've been in comfort only felt like salt in an already open wound. Her comfort felt similar to that which Gabriella had provided many times she and Chad had had problems over the years. It was tough hearing that everything would be all right from someone husband was perfect. Even if things hadn't always been wonderful, at the end of the day, Carol and Gabriella always knew their husbands loved them. Taylor couldn't honestly say she felt the same way.

"Have you talked with him?" Carol asked softly, "A lot of mine and Daniel's problems stemmed from lack of communication."

Taylor shook her head, "Chad has no interest in talking to me. You? Maybe. The red head down the street? Maybe. But his boring wife? Never."

Carol lifted her eyebrows, digesting what Taylor was saying, "Chad's not seeing someone else, is he?" Her voice was laced with disbelief and Taylor felt her stomach clench in disgust and fear.

Someone else?

A year and a half ago, that question would've been ridiculous, and the answer would've been, without a doubt, no. But now…Taylor just wasn't sure. Sometimes, Taylor had to work nights, and it used to be that every morning she'd come home to dishes in the sink and a messy bedroom. Chad would always promise he'd clean it up, and most of the time he would, but it was never without prompting, and it was never before she discovered the mess. A year and a half ago, almost every night Taylor worked she would come home to the mess. A year ago, that number began to dwindle. Six months ago, that number depleted to zero. And now, there were nights when Taylor would not work and Chad would still not come home. She used to have herself convinced it was work that kept him out. But every night she fell asleep alone, the story she fed herself became less and less convincing.

Carol released a sigh as her face took on an apologetic look, "Oh honey…"

Taylor shook her head, dropping her gaze, "You know, the funny thing is, I always knew he'd cheat. Ever since high school. He and I were just never meant to be together."

"Taylor," Carol started, "don't say that…"

"It's true." Taylor disputed, "We were always too different, and we never had…that _thing_, you know? We were never…" she stopped, pausing for a moment, "He was never Troy…and I was never Gabriella."

Carol sent Taylor a confused look, "Who?"

Shaking her head dismissively, Taylor blinked away the tears threatening to form, "No one, look, can you cover me? I have something I need to do." Carol nodded, and before she could question what for, Taylor had already taken off down the hospital corridor.

* * *

Taylor was not proud of much that came out of her schooling years.

Despite her perfect attendance record, high grade point average, the long list of student organizations she had been involved in, and the fact that she had graduated summa cum laude with her doctorate in medicine, when she looked back on her schooling, she always felt more regret than accomplishment. It wasn't that she didn't love being a doctor. It was what she was good at and it was what made her happy, but by deciding at such a young age to chase such a profession she had been hindered with what she could and would ultimately get out of school. It was no one's fault but her own. _Taylor_ was the one who chose to study instead of hanging out with friends. _Taylor_ was the one who chose to join teams like the Scholastic Decathlon instead of trying out for any sporting teams like her classmates. And _Taylor_ was the one who thought of boys as nothing more than a distraction. At the time, it had made sense in her head. The future was what mattered. All the missed dances, movies she saw by herself, and lonely Friday nights wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

And then Gabriella had entered her life.

Taylor was aware of the large impact Gabriella had on Troy, Chad, and all those within their little circle of friends, but to be honest, she didn't expect Gabriella to be able to impact her. There was, and always had been, a wall separating her true self from the one she revealed to others. It had never been penetrated, and up until she met Gabriella, Taylor would have sworn it never would. But she had met Gabriella, and somewhere between fantasizing about their futures and gossiping about their boyfriends, Gabriella had slipped through her defenses and changed her. If it hadn't been for Gabriella, Taylor wouldn't have had half of the fun she ended up having in high school. If it hadn't been for Gabriella, Taylor wouldn't have even considered _considering_ a relationship with Chad beyond the halls of high school. If it hadn't been for Gabriella, Taylor wouldn't have been able to weather the distance Yale brought. And if it hadn't been for Gabriella, Taylor never would have been able to decide that UCLA was where she was meant to be. Gabriella made her the person she was today, and Taylor wasn't going to let her slip through her fingers.

Even if that meant she had to grovel to her best friend's husband.

The door felt like it was covered in nails as Taylor rapped her fist against the Boltons' front door three times, each knock more painful than the previous. It wasn't that Taylor didn't want to apologize to Troy, she just wouldn't mean it. She hated the way her words had to come out, but that didn't mean she didn't mean them. She had meant them, Troy knew she had meant them, and he'd see straight through her apology.

But that didn't mean she couldn't still try.

Taylor could hear the voices inside of the house silence at the knock, she was, however, relieved when she didn't hear the pitter patter of tiny footsteps running towards the door, indicating that Alex had already been put to bed. She needed to talk to Troy and Gabriella without any sort of buffers or interruptions, and Alex would most definitely serve as both. Taylor heard the door unlock, and she lifted her head, holding it high as the door swung open to reveal Gabriella. Her face was stony and her eyes were cold, she obviously had no interest in talking to Taylor.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she practically spat, Taylor lowering her gaze at the comment. She hated it when Gabriella cussed, it sounded so foreign coming out of her mouth, especially directed towards Taylor.

"I would like to speak to Troy." Taylor asked softly, doing her best to hold eye contact with Gabriella.

Gabriella shrugged, "And I would like a million dollars, sometimes our expectations are just unrealistic." Taking a step back, Gabriella went to close the door only to have a hand reach out and stop it. Gabriella's face contorted in annoyance as she shot the hand a glare, "Just because he wants to see you, doesn't mean I want to see you."

Before any more could be said, Gabriella spun on her heel, abandoning the open door and stormed back into the house. The door remained open and Taylor took that as her cue to enter, walking forward just enough for Troy to swing the door shut behind her. "Come on," he began, pushing off the wall he had been resting against, "we can talk out back." Taylor nodded, leading the way, side-glancing at Gabriella as she passed the kitchen, her presence causing Gabriella to slam the drawer she had open shut especially hard.

"You really shouldn't do that," Taylor advised, keeping her tone even, reaching the door to the back porch, "you might wake Alex."

Gabriella took a step towards Taylor, her hands balled into fists at her sides, "Don't you _dare_ tell me how…"

"Gabriella!" Troy cut off, sending her a look, "Calm _down_…"

"Shut up!" Gabriella barked at Troy, turning away from him and attempting to refocus on her task of unloading the dishwasher.

Troy shook his head as he advanced outside, "You know how you always hated when I pissed off Chad? The same thing goes for Gabriella." He informed her, taking a seat on the porch steps next to her, "When she's mad at you, she just makes my life a living hell."

"Or perhaps she's just making your life a living hell because you left her?"

Troy gave her a tight smile, "And to think I thought you came here to apologize."

He went to stand up, but Taylor grabbed his arm, stopping him, "Sorry!" she said quickly, "I didn't mean it."

"You _did_ mean it." Troy protested, "You _always_ mean it. And I don't really know what you came over here to accomplish because you know I know that any apology you give me is bullshit."

Taylor shook her head, "That's not true, I am sorry my words hurt you."

"No you're not, you're sorry your words hurt _Gabriella_." Troy corrected, "Which is actually rather _shocking_, because _usually_ you don't care about anyone but yourself."

"Like you're one to talk, where the hell have you been for the last year and a half?" Taylor retorted rhetorically, "Whatever, you obviously aren't going to accept my apology, so why should I even bother?"

Taylor was up in a second, heading for the house, with Troy right at her heels, "I was protecting my family!"

"Force feed your bullshit to someone who cares," Taylor shot back, yanking open the door and walking into the house, gesturing towards Gabriella as she passed, "tell it to Gabriella, maybe then she'll stop trying to kill herself."

Troy's head snapped over to Gabriella, who had been not-so-subtly watching the couple argue, both in and outside the house, "What?"

Gabriella ignored Troy, her now widened eyes staying fixed on Taylor, "Taylor!"

Taylor whirled around, her cold glare focusing itself on Troy, "You know what? You're right, Troy. I hope my words hurt you, because honestly? I don't think you get it." She explained, "I _really_ don't think you get the gravity of this situation. Sure, in your head, you were doing what was best for your family…but out here in the _real_ world, everything was falling to pieces."

"Taylor…" Gabriella tried.

"He was watching, right?" Taylor asked Gabriella sarcastically, "That's the whole creeptastic part about this whole situation**,** is that he was _watching_ the whole time…so none of this should be news to him."

"Don't…"

"Like that his parents had to bury their only son," she started, ignoring Gabriella, "their only son who died doing a job they didn't want him to have."

"My parents understand my decisions," Troy told her, "they understand that I…"

"Or like that he _abandoned_ his best friend," Taylor continued, talking over Troy, "leaving him to doubt himself, blame himself, and withdraw from EVERYONE around him!"

Troy shook his head, "Chad said he's fine!"

"CHAD IS NOT FINE!" Taylor shouted, no longer holding back, attempting to ignore the tears brimming her eyelids, "God DAMMIT I thought you were supposed to be watching!"

"Don't you dare," Troy said viciously, taking a step forward, "this is about you, Chad, and your marriage. It may have been triggered by me coming back, but don't you _dare_ blame your problems on me."

"You wanna talk marriages?" Taylor retorted, "You wanna talk family? Fine! Where they hell were you for Gabriella? Where were you when Gabriella nearly starved herself after you 'died'?" Troy's head turned in Gabriella's direction, as if hoping she would contradict Taylor's statements, only to find her gaze already lowered to the floor, "Did you know she had to be rushed to the emergency room for malnutrition? Do you care?"

"Hospital?" Troy asked, his gaze never wavering from Gabriella.

"It's not like it sounds," Gabriella defended, sending Taylor a pointed look, "it had been a busy week, I-I had your funeral…and Alex…"

"How could you not tell me about this?" Troy interrupted.

"It's _not_ a big deal…"

"It _is_ a big deal!" Troy argued, "You tried to starve yourself. _Kill_ yourself. That's a big deal. That's a _fucking_ big deal…"

"Oh, _excuse_ me…" Gabriella started, her tone sarcastic, "Excuse me for having a moment of weakness after my husband died." She mock gasped, "Oh wait…"

"I did what I had to do for this family…"

"Oh my god, this is not about you!" Taylor burst out, cutting off Troy and Gabriella's arguing, "For eighteen months I made you my top priority…but this? This is _not_ about you!" Groaning, Taylor brought her hands up to cover her face, "Oh my god, I should have seen this coming…I _so_ should have seen this coming…"

Troy and Gabriella exchanged a confused glance, "Seen what coming?"

Lowering her hands, Taylor fixed her now teary gaze on Troy, "They needed you to be there for them. She needed a husband, he needed a friend…and when you left…I had to choose."

"Choose?" Gabriella questioned, "Choose what?"

"You needed me more than him," Taylor explained, "you had a baby, he said he was fine…"

"What happened with Chad?" Troy asked, alarmed, "Was it something with McDaniels? Something with Salinas? He said…"

"Nothing happened," Taylor dismissed, attempting to hide her eyeroll as she wiped the fallen tears from her cheeks, "some of us can actually make it through the day without having to check to see if we're being followed."

Troy sent her a look, opening his mouth to respond before Gabriella cut him off, "What is it then?" she asked again, "What should you have seen coming?"

"The fact that he didn't want to be with me," Taylor explained, shaking her head as though to shake the thoughts from it, "the fact that Chad…never…wanted…me…"

Gabriella took a step towards Taylor, sending her a look as though she was crazy, "What are you talking about? Of _course_ Chad wanted to be with you. He _married_ you!"

"No," Taylor contradicted, "No…Chad never wanted to get married…it was me…"

"But he still married you." Troy pointed out, "He loves you."

"Taylor," Gabriella started, her tone calm and even, as though she was going to school her friend, "the way you're talking is almost like it's the end of your marriage…"

"It is the end of my marriage." Taylor confirmed, "Chad and me…we're done…I'm not taking this."

"Taking this?" Troy questioned, "Taylor you have got to be joking me…last night _you_ were at his throat, not the other way around. Chad has stuck by you through your bitchy tantrums and your horrendous mood swings…"

"Troy," Gabriella scolded lightly, "now's not really the best time…"

"No," Troy disagreed, "he stayed when you decided to put your career first and everything else, including him, second. Even when he wanted kids he stayed quiet because you needed to establish yourself as a doctor first…"

"Troy!"

"Honestly, Gabriella." Troy shot back, sending her a look before refocusing on Taylor, "If your marriage is over, your marriage is over, but don't you blame this on him. He gave _everything_ to that relationship…"

"He's been seeing someone else."

Taylor's monotonous words stopped Troy in his tracks as Gabriella emitted a gasp, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise, "What?"

Feeling her back hit the front door, she felt herself begin to slide down towards the floor, her legs suddenly feeling weak, "I know I haven't been the perfect wife," Taylor began, her teary eyes focused on Troy, "Chad has always been a giver, and I have always been a taker, and to be honest, I love him…" she tore her eyes from his to look up, attempting to stop the tears that were rapidly slipping down her cheeks, "I love him so much…and I'd probably forgive almost anything he did…" pursing her lips together to prevent the sobs from escaping, she shook her head, "…but not this."

Now sitting on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest, Taylor stopped trying to prevent the floodgates from opening and released a loud sob just before her hand came up to cover her mouth. Gabriella, instantly forgetting any sort of animosity she had towards the dark skinned woman, rushed over to her side, her arm curving around her back, "Oh my god…did you catch him?"

Taylor shook her head, "I didn't need to." She wiped a stray tear from her eye, "I used to blame the job, but I've seen some of the guys' wives, and no one else works like this. I used to blame my job…but its more than just me not seeing him…most nights he doesn't even come home."

Gabriella sighed, "Oh honey…"

Taylor looked up at her, "Tell me I'm being paranoid. Tell me that I'm just an emotional wreck who is turning the fact that she never sees her husband into a bigger deal than it is. Like maybe he comes here every night…or his mom moved to LA and he's been spending time with her…or that maybe it _is_ work and he's working a case so secret that no one else knows about it…please," Taylor begged, "please…tell me…"

Gabriella opened her mouth, desperately wanting to help ease Taylor's pain, but finding the words weren't capable of coming out of her mouth, "I can't…" she whispered.

Taylor nodded, her face scrunching up again as a fresh batch of tears made their way to the surface, "Me neither."

Pulling her friend closer, Gabriella hugged her shaking frame as tightly as she could muster, "You'll stay with us tonight." Her tone was firm and didn't leave room for argument, not that Taylor had it in her to argue, choosing instead to nod her head in response.

* * *

"It'll only be for a little while." Gabriella nodded her head in response to Taylor as she retrieved the pillows from the closet in the guest room Taylor would be staying in, "Just until I get the chance to look for an apartment."

Gabriella walked towards the bed, setting the pillows down on the edge, "Stay as long as you need to."

Taylor shook her head, "I don't want to become an imposition."

"Never," Gabriella responded instantly, "you're my best friend, Taylor; you could stay here forever if I didn't think my husband would find it weird."

"But, unfortunately, he would."

Taylor and Gabriella turned their heads towards to find Troy leaning against the doorframe. Following Taylor's revelation, Gabriella had immediately extended an invitation for the dark skinned woman to inhabit the spare bedroom. Taylor had accepted, and the two girls had made a beeline for the bedroom to prepare it. Troy had hung back, and having heard the door to Alex's bedroom close a few moments earlier, Gabriella assumed he had checked on their son.

"I've got a couple of days off soon." Taylor explained, "Hopefully I'll be able to find a place and get out of your guys' hair."

"It's not a big deal," Gabriella assured her, "stay as long as you need to."

"Are you gonna call Chad?" Troy inquired, "Let him know you're moving out?"

"No," Gabriella answered for her, "that cheating asshole doesn't deserve a phone call. He'll know when he gets the divorce papers."

Taylor sent Gabriella a weak smile, "I'll have to get some stuff eventually…I'll let him know then."

Troy lifted his eyebrows, "You want me to tell him? Let him know you're not kidnapped or lying dead on the side of the road somewhere?"

Taylor shook her head, lowering her gaze, "I doubt he'll even notice."

Troy nodded, "Right, you'll let him know when you get settled." Taylor's eyes shot up to his, "I'm gonna go," he said suddenly, pushing off from the doorframe, causing Gabriella's head to turn towards him, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Troy didn't pause to issue separate goodbyes, nor did he wait for one in return, spinning on his heel and advancing down the hallway towards the staircase. He was moving quickly, almost quick enough to escape the confines of the house before he was stopped. Almost.

"Troy!" He paused, letting Gabriella's hand on his arm pull him to a stop a mere inches from the door, "Wait a second, where are you going?"

"My apartment," he answered swiftly, "it's Taylor's first night here…I should really go…"

Gabriella blinked, his statement looking as though it confused her, "You don't have to," she said quickly, "it's late, just stay here, you, Taylor, and I can talk."

"We tried talking," Troy pointed out, "it didn't really work out the first time around, and I'm not really interested in trying again tonight."

"Troy…"

"Go to your best friend," Troy inserted, cutting Gabriella off, "you and I both know you want to."

Gabriella looked taken aback, her eyebrows knitting together, "Don't say it like that…don't make it like I'm choosing her over you."

"But you are." Troy pointed out, "And its fine," he added, "she needs you and I need to go."

"Why?" Gabriella demanded, gripping his arm tighter when he tried to pull away.

"Because I can't stay here!" Troy said firmly "A lot of shit went down tonight, and right now, I can't be here. _Not_ with her in the house."

"Why?" Gabriella repeated, "Look, I know a lot of shit went down tonight, but walking away from this isn't going to make it better. We _need_ to talk."

"Don't even make this about us." Troy interjected, "This is about her…and I can't be here when it's about her right now."

"Why are you doing this?" Gabriella asked rhetorically, her voice rising, "She is my best friend…"

"And Chad's mine." Troy rebutted, keeping his voice down, "Lest you forget he was mine first."

Gabriella's eyebrows shot up, "You're choosing him?"

Troy shook his head, "I'm not _choosing_…"

"Yes you are!" Gabriella contradicted, "Troy, he _cheated_ on her!"

Troy shook his head, "That's what you think. I don't believe it."

"Why?" Gabriella asked bluntly, "Why don't you believe it?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because she has no proof? Or maybe the fact that he has remained faithful to her for _years_? Or maybe just because I know Chad," Troy told her, "and I _know_ he wouldn't cheat on her."

"No, you _knew_ Chad." Gabriella corrected, "He's different now."

"Not about this." for the first time since their argument had started Gabriella detected a change in his tone, a layer of what sounded like bitterness laced into every word, "I know I left and every single fucking thing in my world changed, but _not_ this."

"Why?" Gabriella repeated, searching his face for her answer.

Troy's eyes remained locked with hers for a moment before shifting to over her shoulder. Gabriella turned, finding Taylor standing on the staircase, staring at the two wearily. "I don't know, Taylor," Troy began in a low voice, "why is it that I think that Chad would _never_ cheat on you?"

Gabriella's brow furrowed as she continued to stare at Taylor, Troy seizing the opportunity to spin and yank open the front door, "What is he talking about?"

Taylor glanced at Gabriella briefly before returning her gaze to Troy's disappearing figure, "Like father, like son, Troy." Taylor shouted as he slammed the door behind him, "Like father, like son!"


End file.
